An Unbreakable Bond Forms
by Chickie.Babe1
Summary: 1st in the Series - Alicia Evans get's a visitor one day telling her she's a witch. Attending her first year at Hogwarts brings friends, adventures and a rather strong talent for charms. However a small secret is stirring under the surface in which a few people seem to know, however no one seems to want to tell her.
1. Chapter 1

**Here's the first of my Harry Potter Series, I'm currently up to the Goblet of Fire, I'll post the second book up in the next week or so as I have two exams in two weeks then I'm done for the year and can write to my hearts content.**

 **I do not own Harry Potter it all belongs to JK Rowling, blah blag, blah, you already know this, I just own Alicia.**

 **Let me know if you find any spelling mistakes so I can correct them, I couldn't be bothered rereading it all again.**

 **Enjoy.**

* * *

Chapter 1:

She sat on the window sill in the dinning room, a book on her lap as the sun shined in. Her jet black hair was braided to the side and her green eyes scanned the words with wonder. She was a thin girl, but not underweight, and was rather short for her age.

"Alicia!" the girl looked towards the doorway.

Alicia Evans.

She had been found on the door step of an orphanage on the 30th of October at a year old. A letter had been tucked into her bundle of blankets but Ms Bane had told her she wasn't allowed to read it. At least, not until she was older.

Alicia stood up and moved to the doorway to find Ms Bane pulling the vacuum cleaner out of the cupboard.

"Will you be a dear and go outside while I vacuum." she asked "Also, I have some news for everyone so they're to be at dinner ten minutes beforehand." Alicia glanced out the window to everyone else.

"Go on sweetie." Ms Bane smiled. Alicia turned with a slow nod and moved for the back door. Despite her assurance to the ten year old Ms Bane had watched her back, hesitating, biting her lip.

Alicia stood on the doorstep and watched as a few kids ran past.

"Alicia, do you want to join?" a girl name Maria wondered

Alicia shook her head.

"Thanks Maria, but Ms Bane asked me to tell everyone they had to be at dinner ten minutes early. She has something to say." she shrugged.

"Oh." Maria was curious "Would you like some help?"

"Could you tell everyone outside?" Alicia wondered "I'll go look through the rooms when Ms Bane's finished vacuuming?" she offered

"Sure." Maria smiled and she ran off shouting at everyone. Alicia chuckled before she walked through the garden and to the back corner.

Alicia loved the outdoors. She picked up a flower and it began to twirl in her hand. She giggled at it before it closed up and she put it in her hair. Alicia sat on the grass and a bird landed before her.

"Hey," she stroked it's feathers before it flew off and Alicia returned to her book.

Surrey orphanage was a lively place. It was filled with kids of all ages, boys and girls. Ms Bane, the owner and caretaker of the orphanage was a kind women but was strict about order. Breakfast and dinner were at the same time everyday and the rooms were to be cleaned and beds made every morning. She had a system that prevented fights over bathrooms or seats over dinner which was followed with a wary thumb by the children. Chores were taken in turns and the kids had quickly learned not to complain when their turn came around.

Most days those who past the orphanage would smile when they saw the children running around the garden happily. The sound of laughter mostly filled the air but the occasional argument appeared as well.

* * *

Alicia walked through the entire building later that day and informed everyone of Ms Bane's notice. As instructed everyone arrived no less then ten minutes early for dinner. Usually when Ms Bane asked for such a meeting she was announcing an outing or an event.

"Right, tomorrow I need everyone up and ready to leave by eleven. We're going out for the day. I've organised a bus and we wont be back until the late afternoon." Ms Bane explained to all the curious faces.

"Where are we going?" Sophie, a thirteen year old, wondered. Ms Bane smiled but didn't answer, leaving everyone in mystery.

"So what are you going to do this time, Alicia?" Matt sneered to her. She rolled her eyes

"Depends on where we're going. I might drop you in a pond." she retorted with boredom.

"Don't mess with her Matt, remember what happened when Laura did?" another girl, Opal, reminded him.

"Yeah right, Laura thought she was covered in cockroaches. She was just hallucinating." Matt was fifteen and had nothing better to do then pick on the weird, nerdy, Alicia.

"Then why are you asking if I'll do something weird if you don't believe I could?" Alicia asked simply. Matt looked at her annoyed for catching onto his slip. But he turned and didn't say another word none the less.

Weird things happened around Alicia. Once the morning dew had floated off of the grass and leaves, leaving the children in momentary surprise by the wonder. Another time she had been surrounded by squirrels for no particular reason. All the flowers she walked past had bloomed. Her hair, whether cut short or not, regrew to it's original length when she wasn't happy by the change.

More unusual things usually happened when they went on outings. A seesaw moved itself when at the park. A sandcastle at the beach, impossible to build with a bucket, was standing before her. A fire started without matches when they went camping as she watched the plain logs.

But when she was upset or angry was when it was most obvious. Things broke, people got hurt, and a few times objects went flying. Girls would scream about things that weren't there and some thought they were mad.

* * *

Alicia was one of the first up the next morning. She was ready and waiting for breakfast as everyone else filed into the room.

"You're up early." Alex said sitting beside Alicia

"I was surprised when I found your bed empty." Portia nodded in agreement

"I was curious." Alicia shrugged

"Apparently." Alex smirked.

"Quick, quick everyone. I will not be running late." Ms Bane's voice called

"Ms Bane, when will you tell us where we're going?" Maria wondered. She was always a gossip lover.

"The zoo." she said simply.

Everyone smiled and began to whisper. Alice sighed

"This'll be fun!"

"I want to see the meerkats." Portia smiled

"How about the lions?"

"They'd probably swallow you whole." Matt said as he walked past.

"Oh really?" Alicia smiled "Can we push you in and see?" Matt sneered at her and walked off. Alicia rolled her eyes

"What would you like to see Alicia?" Alex wondered

"I don't know…" she muttered thinking.

They all got onto the bus and Alicia dove into her book, Portia and Alex talking away on the seat behind her.

"Alright." the bus pulled up before the zoo and already it was crowded with families. Everyone peered out of the windows as Ms Bane tried to get their attention.

"Now then. Those of you who are fifteen and over may go and wonder yourselves, I wish for you all to have at least one person with you. Those between ten and fifteen are to be in a group of at least three." Ms Bane had her strict tone while addressing them all. "Anyone below ten are not to be alone and are to accompany me. No excuses."

Alicia let out a sigh, thankful she was old enough to not have Ms Bane breathing down her neck.

"Oh where should we go first?!" Alex asked excitedly

"How about we start at the closest things and move off towards the back?" Alicia said simply

"No way that'll work I bet there'll be paths leading around everywhere." Portia admitted

"Well, what do you guys want to see most?" Alicia wondered. The two girls stopped and thought as they strolled lazily towards the entrance.

"I think I want to see the big cats." Alex nodded

"I want to see the reptiles." Portia crossed her arms

"Alright, rock-paper-scissors to see where we go first." Alicia suggested

"What about you?" Alex wondered, her eyebrows furrowed.

"I'm not fussed." Alicia shrugged with a smile.

The two looked at one another and determination set into their faces. The two bounced their fists up and down playing the game.

Alex won and the three headed first to the big cats, stopping at all the animals along the way. When they did reach the cats, Alex was amazed. They watched the cheetahs run, the leopards in the trees, the tigers grooming themselves and the lions lying lazily in the sun.

They stopped at a cafe on their way to the reptiles for lunch, having a sandwich and drinks followed by an ice-cream in the Saturday sun.

"If we don't finish these ice creams before we reach the reptile house, I bet we'll freeze. It's got to be cold for the reptiles." Portia said as she bit the waffle cone.

"I don't think that'll be a problem." Alex smiled as she put the last little bit in her mouth.

"Just finish your cone Portia, it'll be fine." Alicia assured, she'd already finished her's as they entered the reptile house.

People walked through the dark damp house, gazing in through the windows at all the snakes, frogs, lizards and other reptiles.

Portia was immediately looking in every window at the cold blooded animals, dragging Alex with her. Alicia smirked as she watched the two, walking after them.

"Make it move," Alicia turned to see a very plump, no necked boy with his face against the window of a very large boa constrictor. With him was a very large and plump man with a huge moustache and a very tall thin lady with a long neck. A boy was next the plump one with a rat like face.

However it was the smallest boy that caught her attention. He was thin, short, with jet black hair and glasses, sellotape holding them together. His clothes were many sizes too big for him and made him look scrawnier then he was.

The boa constrictor did not move from the tap on the glass.

"Do it again," the boy ordered. His father rapped the glass smartly with his knuckles, but the snake just snoozed on.

"This is boring," he boy moaned before he shuffled away. The rat and his parents followed but the small black haired boy stayed.

He moved in front of the tank and looked intently at the snake. The snake suddenly, after not having moved a wink from the pesky family, opened its beady eyes. Slowly, very slowly, it raised its head until its eyes were on a level with the boys.

Alicia walked towards them curiously. She swear she saw the snake wink…

 _Snakes didn't wink did they?_

Alicia watched as the boy turned to see if anyone was watching. His eyes landed on Alicia who smiled. She walked towards him and the boa constrictor.

"I saw that." she said

"What?" he wondered

"It winked at you." she shrugged

"Snakes…"

"Don't wink." she smiled. "Obviously it's taken a liking to you, after those lot bugged it." she pointed to the family.

"They don't understand." he muttered

"Your family?"

"Aunt and Uncle." he nodded. She sighed with a nod before they turned to the snake, who watched them intently.

Alicia smiled and the boy glanced at her before winking at the snake back.

The snake jerked its head toward the family, then raised its eyes to the ceiling. It gave the boy a look that said quite plainly:

 _"I get that all the time."_

"I know," he murmured through the glass, though he wasn't sure the snake could hear him. "It must be really annoying."

"Having people poke their heads in at you," Alicia muttered "Yeah." she sighed.

"You know how that feels?" the boy asked

"I live in an orphanage." Alicia said simply "Oh yeah."

"Me too," he turned to look at his aunt and uncle.

The snake nodded vigorously in agreement with them.  
"Where do you come from, anyway?" the boy asked.

The snake jabbed its tail at a little sign next to the glass. Both kids peered at it.

 _Boa Constrictor, Brazil._

"Was it nice there?"

The boa constrictor jabbed its tail at the sign again and they read on: This specimen was bred in the zoo.

"Oh, I see — so you've never been to Brazil?"

As the snake shook its head.

"Don't know you're family." Alicia muttered, earning a slight look from the boy before a deafening shout behind them made both of them, and the snake, jump.

"DUDLEY! MR. DURSLEY! COME AND LOOK AT THIS SNAKE! YOU WON'T _BELIEVE_ WHAT IT'S DOING!"

The plump boy came waddling toward them as fast as he could.

"Out of the way, you," he said, punching the boy in the ribs. Caught by surprise, he fell hard on the concrete floor, knocking Alicia who stumbled, on his way down.

She turned and glared at the pig-like boy before turning to the scrawny one. He looked upset and annoyed also.

What came next happened so fast no one saw how it happened — one second, the pig boy and his rat friend were leaning right up close to the glass, the next, they had leapt back with howls of horror.

The boy sat up and gasped while Alicia frowned at herself; the glass front of the boa constrictor's tank had vanished. The great snake was uncoiling itself rapidly, slithering out onto the floor. People throughout the reptile house screamed and started running for the exits.

As the snake slid swiftly past the boy on the floor, and, in a low hissing voice, said

"Brazil, here I come… Thanksss, amigo."

Alicia's eyes widened ever so slightly as it slid on down the corridor of the reptile house. She turned and held a hand out to the boy.

"Thanks." he said

"Any time." she said before looking back at the glass "As long as you don't tell anyone about that." she muttered. He looked at her

"You did that?" he asked. She sighed and shrugged "I thought I did…" Alicia looked at the boy confused

"Does… things like that happen often?" she asked softly

"Sometimes." he answered. She looked him over "You?" she wondered

"Very often." she nodded

"Alicia!" she turned to find Portia and Alex running towards her, worried expressions on their faces. Alicia turned back to the boy and held out her hand.

"I'm Alicia Evans." she said

"Harry Potter." he said taking her hand with a smile. She smiled back "What orphanage are you from?" he wondered

"Surrey."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

"I'm in Little Whinging."

"Really?" she said in the same surprised tone and he nodded before the plump man with the huge moustache appeared and grabbed Harry's shoulder.

"Come here boy. We're leaving."

"Bye," Harry muttered as his uncle half dragged him away

"See you later." Alicia waved as her two friends reached her sides.

"Who was that?" Alex asked

"We were looking at the boa constrictor that got out…" Alicia said slowly. The two looked at her then at one another.

"How did it get out?" Portia asked

Alicia shrugged and turned back to the exit of the reptile house.

"Shall we go?" she said. The two girls shared another look and then at the now empty cage before following.

The ride back was silent between the three of them.

Ms Bane asked a few what they'd gotten up to and seen while at the zoo over dinner. Many were happy to answer and the younger ones were most ecstatic.

"What about you Alicia? Alex?" Ms Bane asked. The three were silent for a minute before Portia, the level headed of the three, spoke up.

"We went to the big cats and saw everything along that path and then to the reptile house." she glanced at Alicia who nodded.

"Did you hear about the boa that got out?" Maria said, a gleam in her eye

"Yeah…" Alex looked at Alicia also "We were there at the time." everyone turned to Alicia who paused.

"It wasn't me." she said

"Yeah right." Matt disagreed "Only you'd let a boa constrictor out."

"The glass vanished, how could I have done that?" she demanded annoyed

"The same way you did everything else." he snapped.

"Matthew!" Ms Bane snapped. "It was an unfortunate circumstance and was no bodies fault." she gave a pointed look at Matt who eyed Alicia. Her thoughts weren't concerned about what everyone else thought, they were on the boy. He'd said he was like her, weird things happened. Could it really be she wasn't the only one?

* * *

Alicia sat in her room by the window, Alex and and Portia were in the dinning room leaving the girl in peace. She stared at the setting sun, her hands around her knees. The incident with the boa constrictor wouldn't leave her mind. Though other strange things had happened before, this time she hadn't been alone… she'd had a discussion about who's fault it actually was. And both had believed it was their doing.

 _He's here in Surrey somewhere…_ she thought. _But there are so many places._

She sighed and leaned on the window sill. As the light passed through her room she held her hand out and closed a fist over the light. The sun disappeared and Alicia opened her hand and a small ball of light sat in her palm.

It quickly faded.

 _I can't be the only one…_


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

Alicia had taken time away from everyone after the boa incident, including Portia and Alex. The two however were worried for her as she seemed more closed off then usual.

She walked to the nearby park and sat on the swing with a sigh. It was now summer holidays, meaning there was no school to keep her occupied.

She sat humming as she stared up at the slightly overcast sky, a few children were playing around with their parents watching, all coming and going. This didn't help the young orphan's mind.

The sun occasionally shone down through the clouds, and lit up the landscape shown below the park on the hill. Alicia looked over, trying to distract her mind by admiring Surrey and thinking about her next school term. She was to be going to secondary school in September.

"Alicia…?" she turned around to see the boy from the zoo, his perfect round glasses still taped with sellotape and his jet black hair poked out in an unruly mess.

"Harry." she said surprised sitting up straight "What are you doing here?"

"Escaping my cousin." he admitted walking to sit on the seat beside her "What about you?"

"Getting lost in my thoughts." she sighed

"Anything I can help with?"

"I don't know." she shrugged. Alicia reached down and grabbed a small rock from the ground. She held it in her hand and it floated up before spinning around on the spot and forming a perfect circle.

Alicia held it up to Harry who looked shocked.

"Unless you have an explanation," she muttered as he took the rock, his eyes wide and his mouth hanging open in a perfect 'o'.

"H-How did you do that?" he asked, swallowing.

"I don't know…" she muttered, looking down at her hands "There's a lot of things I've done that are unexplainable. It was really bad when I was younger. Now things mostly happen when I'm 'emotionally distressed'." she used quotation marks around the words.

"You're not the only one." Harry muttered and Alicia looked at him surprised. "Once my Aunt Petunia shaved my hair off and it had all grown back by the next morning." Harry admitted, Alicia raised an eyebrow. "She also tried to shove me into a sweater that shrunk in her hands. And I ended up on a school roof once."

"Wow…" Alicia muttered "You've had it easy." Harry's eyebrows furrowed "I made all the morning dew float. While everyone was outside. I lit a fire without matches, if I didn't like my hair cut it was normal the next morning, but it was usually just a small trim." she listed.

He wore his shocked expression again before pursuing his lips.

"Yeah." she breathed

"How'd you manage too…" he rolled the rock around in his hand

"I don't know, I sort of just, thought about it." she shrugged "I don't know really how it works or what it works on, but small things," she shrugged

"Have you told anyone?" Harry wondered

"No." she shook her head "I haven't really denied it when it's pinned on me by a few of the other kids but, no one has actually asked 'did you do that?'" she rolled her eyes.

"So… in a way, you can do magic." he said it slowly, licking his lips as he thought the words before saying them. She chuckled

"I guess. But I'm not one hundred percent sure as to how that works."

"So what are you doing next term?" Harry asked

"Going to a local high school." she shrugged "You?"

"Stonewall."

"Excited?"

"Excited to be away from Dudley."

"The pig?" Alicia wondered. Harry chuckled and looked at her with a nod. "You're related to him?" she looked him over.

"My mother was my aunt's sister." Harry explained

"The tall thin one?" Alicia continued, interested. He nodded "I guess Dudley…?" she double checked the name and continued when he nodded "Takes after his dad."

"Unfortunately." Harry sighed. Alicia pursed her lips and glanced at him a few times.

"How… I mean, you don't have to answer but… how'd you loose them?" she asked slowly "Your parents, I mean." she looked at him again to double check she hadn't hit a nerve.

He swallowed before turning to her.

"Car crash." she nodded and turned away "You?" he wondered

"I don't know." she sighed "I was found on the orphanage's door step with a letter." she said simply "I haven't been allowed to read the letter."

"So you have no idea what happened?" she shook her head as she looked at the sky.

"Ms Bane, the caretaker of the orphanage, says it was most peculiar to find me there the next morning." she imitated the women "But that's all she told me." Alicia shrugged.

"Lookie here boys." the two turned to see Harry's pig cousin and a few of his friends standing before them looking smug. Harry looked worried and Alicia rolled her eyes.

Great, bullies.

"We were looking for you Harry." Dudley admitted

"Well he's preoccupied. Bugger off." Alicia snapped, Dudley looked at her annoyed

"You made a friend?" his little friends were snickering behind him. Harry looked at Alicia and leaned towards her slightly.

"Can you run?"

"Course I can." she answered "You're not going to run are you?"

"Better then staying." he muttered as Dudley turned back to them.

"You have a destination in mind?" she wondered as Dudley laughed, the five of them pulling faces and pointing at the two.

"Just run." Harry got up and ran in the opposite direction of his cousin and Alicia, though surprised at first, quickly followed.

"I hope you have a better plan then just running." she breathed

"Dudley doesn't like sports." Harry admitted "He wont chase for long."

"Apparently, this isn't the first time he's tried to beaten you so it seems he doesn't give up." she said logically. Harry panted as he glanced at her before he zipped round a corner. Alicia almost ran past it before she followed him, stumbling slightly.

After another corner or two, Harry came to a stop.

The two stood panting for a bit before they managed to calm their racing hearts.

"Does this happen a lot?" Alicia wondered

"Hopefully now that we're going to different schools…" Harry panted a bit "It'll slow down."

"You need something to scare him with." Alicia said through her breaths. She took a long deep one befe straightening up.

"I'm not exactly scary." he breathed standing up. She sighed as she looked at the baggy clothes hiding the truthfully scrawny boy.

"You could be if they'd feed you and dress you better." she muttered, already not liking them.

Harry didn't say anything. He just shrugged.

Alicia sighed.

"I'll walk back to your house incase they corner you on the way there." she decided. Harry looked at her and she smiled. "I don't mind having a go at beating the boy. Plus, who's his parents going to complain too?"

"I'd probably get punished." he sighed

"I'd probably break you out." Alicia smiled. Harry smiled back before he began to lead the way back to his house.

The two chattered for a while, asking each other all kinds of questions, getting acquainted. When they entered Privet Drive Alicia looked around gapping.

"This is a nice neighbourhood." she muttered

"On the outside." Harry muttered. Alicia smirked slightly

"Are they privet people?" she wondered

"They are, but Aunt Petunia likes to be nosy to the neighbours."

"So… they hate people looking over their fences but she does it to the neighbours?" Alicia asked slightly surprised. Harry nodded.

"Hypocrite." Alicia mumbled.

They stopped on the footpath near the letter box of number four and Harry glanced at the windows.

"Will they get angry at seeing you with me?"

"Possibly." he shrugged

"I'm sorry for that,"

"Not your fault." he sighed. Alicia nodded, that was true.

"Well, we need to boost this summer for you." she smiled

"How?"

"Well, either I'll plan what we do that morning or I'll wing it." she said, thinking. Her expression was very determined

"What?" Harry asked surprised

"Even if we do spend most of it running from your cousin," she shrugged "We might even turn around and snap at him for once." she smirked looking excited.

Harry blinked at her.

"Don't look at me that way I'm going to make this summer better then ever!" she said. She suddenly gasped "When's your birthday?"

"July 31st." Alicia was still for a minute as she stared at him before she turned away and the determination returned

"Good I haven't missed it." she said as she thought. She turned back to him "What would you like?" Harry looked at her surprised by the sudden question. No one had asked him that before.

"Um…" he muttered

"Well I have just under a month to find out your likes and dislikes and I'll find something awesome… and affordable…" she added more to herself.

Harry, having never had someone even think about treating him before, just watched her as Alicia muttered to herself, occasionally turning to Harry excitedly.

Eventually she stopped suddenly and remembered where they were.

"Oh! I forget, you need to get home!" she said suddenly looking at the house "Even if they haven't been watching us, they're sure to find something to punish you with!" she bit her lip before walking around Harry "Meet me tomorrow?" she asked "At the park. Don't care what time but if you're not there by ten I'm going to assume they either locked you up, or you don't want to…" she back tracked "Hopefully, for my sake, the first offer." she smiled before she turned and ran down the footpath to the end of the road.

Alicia waved to Harry before she made her way back to the orphanage.

* * *

Alicia was noticeably happy the next morning. She got up and dressed, was at breakfast early and even helped clean up before asking permission to leave the grounds. Ms Bane, seeing her mood, did not refuse, but set the same rules as always.

Harry was already waiting for her at the park and she immediately dragged him off to all her favourite places.

As the days passed she made him choose a few places to go also and a few activities to do. Both of course had raced one another in those moments when Dudley turned up looking for his punching bag. Apparently, Harry believed, the two having fun and him not being able to make it worse, ticked Dudley off and made his day worse. Harry had returned home quite a few times to find Dudley throwing some tantrum.

Alicia found this hilarious.

At one stage she'd brought him back to the orphanage and showed him around, with Ms Bane's permission of course. She was reluctant at first but after seeing the two spend some time in the front garden, she allowed it.

Alex and Portia were very surprised when Alicia introduced them as she'd hardly interacted with anyone but them since she was six. She'd decided to try and not get too involved with any of them because of all the weird incidents that happened around her. Alex and Portia were too stubborn to give up, unlike a few of the other kids.

Once or twice Alex and Portia had joined the two for a few hours before politely leaving them be. There was something about the two that had sparked an interest. It was strange seeing them interact.

"Do you think it has something to do with their similarities?" Alex whispered as they walked back to the orphanage.

"Physically or mentally?"

"Both." Noticing the same black hair and green eyes between the two kids had been the first surprise.

* * *

Alicia got up like any other morning and ran down stairs only to find Ms Bane talking to a tall stranger. She stopped on her way to the kitchen confused, it wasn't even eight o'clock yet.

The man was tall and had a long silver beard. His hair was the same, long and able to be tucked into his belt. His blue eyes seemed to twinkle behind their half moon spectacles and his nose was crooked, as though it's been broken before.

There was something about his face however, that made Alicia smile, he had a nice face and she already felt trusting towards the stranger.

The man turned from his conversation with Ms Bane to look at Alicia.

"Good morning." he smiled

"Morning." she answered, answering his smile.

"Alicia, this is Professor… Dumbledore?" she questioned and he nodded

"Hello, professor." she said placing her hands together.

"Professor Dumbledore is here to see you." Alicia's eyebrows shot up

"Me?" Dumbledore nodded

"Shall we sit?" he offered. Alicia looked at Ms Bane who nodded as the girl bit her lip and glanced at the door. However she followed as Ms Bane led them through to her office. Alicia sat next to the old professor while Ms Bane sat before them on the other side of the desk.

"I am here to inform Ms Alicia Evans that she has been offered a place at my school." he began

"Really?" Alicia wondered. He smiled and nodded

"It's a boarding school and she will be there for the entire year, however she can come home for christmas break." he explained "She'll catch the train to the school from Kings Cross Station along with others of the school." Dumbledore said looking between the two.

"This is sudden, I do not remember her signing up for any school," Ms Bane turned to Alicia who shook her head.

"The selection for this school is different." Dumbledore said simply "However, I do wish to speak to Ms Evans alone if possible." he turned to Ms Bane. She pursed her lips and looked at the two before nodding and standing. She left the room and Alicia turned to Dumbledore, her eyebrows furrowed.

Dumbledore reached into his coat and pulled out an envelope. It was made of thick parchment and had green ink written on the front.

Ms. A. Evans

Room 9

Surrey Orphanage

Surrey

Alicia blinked as she looked at it. How did they know her room number?

She looked up at Dumbledore who was still smiling before she turned it over to see a wax seal. It was bearing a coat of arms; a lion, an eagle, a badger, and a snake surrounding a large letter H.

She ran a thumb over the wax seal before she pulled on it and broke it in two. Alicia pulled out two pieces of of parchment before she opened the first.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Headmaster: Albus Dumbledore  
( _Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards_ )

Dear Ms. Evans,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.

Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.

Yours sincerely,

Minerva McGonagall,

 _Deputy Headmistress_

Alicia read the letter five times over to make sure she'd understood it. Witchcraft and Wizardry? That couldn't mean…?

She looked up at Dumbledore and back to the letter. Headmaster? The headmaster himself had come to see her?

Alicia suddenly felt very nervous. She swallowed while trying to figure out which question to ask first.

"Witchcraft and wizardry?" she asked dryly.

"Have you ever done things Ms Evans, things you couldn't explain?" Dumbledore wondered. Alicia took a deep breath

"Too many times." she whispered

"Well, there's a reason for that." Alicia looked at him confused, waiting for him to continued.

"You, Alicia, are a witch."

She stared at him for a long time, all the weird moments passing through her head before she pursed her lips.

"Is that a compliment?" she wondered, thinking of all the stories on witches.

Dumbledore smiled, knowing what she was thinking.

"Hogwarts is a school where you learn to control you abilities. You spend a total of seven years at Hogwarts to complete you schooling. You are taught to use, control and expand what you can do." As he spoke Alicia unfolded the other letter.

Within it was a list, the same coat of arms was at the very top as it had been on the first letter.

HOGWARTS SCHOOL  
 _of_ WITCHCRAFT _and_ WIZARDRY

Uniform

First-year students will require:  
1\. Three sets of plain work robes (black)  
2\. One plain pointed hat (black) for day wear  
3\. One pair of protective gloves (dragon hide or similar)

4\. One winter cloak (black, silver fastenings)

Please note that all pupils' clothes should carry name tags

Course books

All students should have a copy of each of the following:

 _The Standard Book of Spells (Grade 1)_

by Miranda Goshawk  
 _A History of Magic_

by Bathilda Bagshot  
 _Magical Theory_

by Adalbert Waffling  
 _A Beginners' Guide to Transfiguration_

by Emeric Switch

 _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi_

by Phyllida Spore  
 _Magical Drafts and Potions_

by Arsenius Jigger

 _Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them_

by Newt Scamander

 _The Dark Forces: A Guide to Self-Protection_

by Quentin Trimble

Other equipment

1 wand  
1 cauldron (pewter, standard size 2)

1 set glass or crystal phials  
1 telescope  
1 set brass scales

Students may also bring an owl OR a cat OR a toad.

PARENTS ARE REMINDED THAT FIRST YEARS ARE NOT ALLOWED THEIR OWN BROOMSTICKS

Alicia eyed some of the things confused. Half of the items she had never seen before, nor had she heard of the books listed.

"Where can we get these?" she asked confused "I doubt London would sell them…"

"Someone will come and collect you on the 31st of July and take you to buy all your things." Alicia bit her lip

"I don't want to trouble anyone…" she said slowly. Who knew how far they'd need to go to get the supplies… who knew how far this person would travel from to get her.

Dumbledore however smiled.

"Don't worry, another young lad's being picked up from around here also." he smiled fondly, as if he knew something important which she didn't.

"Who?" she wondered, though she didn't expect an answer.

He did not reply.

"How am I to pay for all this?" she asked looking down at the list.

"You will visit the Wizard Bank." Dumbledore said. She nodded, that seemed obvious… but what if there was nothing there for her…

"Why me?" she suddenly wondered "I mean how can I be a… witch…?" It was a weird thing to admit.

"Because of your parents." he answered. Alicia seemed to freeze as she watched him, looking down at her over his half moon spectacles.

"Y… You knew my parents?" she asked softly. He nodded

"They were students at my school years ago."

Alicia suddenly felt a pang of sadness at the thought of her parents. She'd never known anything about them. Now knowing she could go to their school she was not about to refuse.

A determined expression set in on her face and Dumbledore smiled.

"Now, Ms Evans. I must implore you not to tell anyone about this." he said strongly. After a minute Alicia realised this world had to be a secret, or she would have known about it long ago.

"No one?" she asked. Her mind turned to Harry, the one person she'd suddenly been able to tell anything to.

Dumbledore nodded. Alicia let out a sigh but nodded all the same.

"What do I tell people?" she asked

"You have been offered a scholarship to a boarding school in the country." He said simply "If asked anything else, just say it's privet and very closed off." Alicia nodded, though she suspected that would cause more questions she didn't know the answer too.

"It says 'we await your owl'?" she read confused "What owl?"

"That is how we communicate. We send letters by owls." he said and she nodded "However as I have come to see you in person, your owl is not required."

"I don't have an owl to give anyway." she admitted. Dumbledore smiled down at her for the comment.

"Well then, I shall have a few more words with Ms Bane about your travel arrangements and then I shall be off." he announced. Alicia nodded as she stood up

"Thank you Professor." she tucked the two letters back into the envelope before putting it in her pocket.

Alicia left the office and Ms Bane was standing before her within the second. She walked back in and shut the door, Alicia now on the outside.

She didn't bother with breakfast, instead she ran straight towards the park. She couldn't tell him what she was or where exactly she was going but she could tell him she was leaving.

Alicia stopped. She was leaving… she'd have to leave everything behind…

Alicia shook her head. She was getting a part of her family back this way. It was the only thing she'd found to connect to her parents.

Harry wasn't at the park yet, so Alicia sat on the swing and began to move as she waited, staring over Surrey.

Alicia stopped and turned when the sound of grumbles and footsteps approached. She stopped the swing to see Harry, his hands in his pockets and his expression irritated as he walked towards her. She'd never seen him look so annoyed before.

"What's wrong?" she asked

"I got a letter today." he muttered annoyed

"What about?" she asked, confused as to how this was a bad thing.

"My uncle stole it and wouldn't let me read it." he said. Alicia's face fell.

"Oh."

"I've never received mail before and they snatched it from my hands and I didn't see it again." he complained "Why didn't I just open it in the hallway instead?"

"Maybe you didn't think they'd be rude enough to take and read your mail." Alicia said with a roll of her eyes. Of course the Dursley's would do that. They seemed the only people around that would.

"Stupid me." he scoffed in agreement as he sat down on the other swing.

"Well, can't you take it now? I mean isn't your Uncle at work?"

"But my Aunt's still home, and if he didn't take it she'll have it hidden somewhere or somewhere close to her." he muttered

"Should we go to your house and take a look?" Alicia wondered with a mischievous smile.

"Aunt Petunia would have a cow if you came in." he thought

"So we'll be sneaky?" she shrugged

"And Dudley?"

"We'll run like normal." she smiled. Harry gave her a look and she sighed.

"Fine." she muttered "Guess I don't want to get you in trouble anyway."

"So what do you think it was about?" she asked interested as she turned to look at him intently.

"I don't know, Dudley and I listened through the door after they kicked us out but it didn't make much sense." Harry shrugged

"Well, what did they say?" she pressed. Harry sighed at her persistence but answered anyway.

"Something about people watching, or spying on us,"

"What?" she interrupted

"They had my cupboard on the address." he said

"Your cupboard?"

"I sleep in the cupboard under the stairs." Alicia's eyes narrowed dangerously. She had already not liked these people. She hated them more and more.

"What else?" she asked, trying to keep her voice lighter then she felt.

"Uncle Vernon said to ignore the letter and who ever's writing would go away." Alicia scoffed

"Depends how serious it is." she disagreed and Harry nodded before continuing.

"And then something about 'not having one in the house' and 'stamping out that dangerous nonsense'." Harry shrugged. Alicia looked at him

"Weird…" she eventually said and Harry nodded.

"Oh now I'm intrigued." she muttered "If they send you another letter you bring it straight to the orphanage!" she said seriously "Don't open it, or even try to, at home. The second you get your hands on it, run." she ordered "That way they can't catch you, can't stop you, and," she smiled "I can read it." Harry rolled his eyes.

"And if it's private?" he wondered

"There's nothing a letter can tell you I don't already know about." she said stubbornly. After this mornings visit she definitely believed it. Witches and magic existed, what more could surprise the girl?


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

Alicia didn't see Harry the next day, he didn't come to the park. She assumed it had something to do with his family and the letter. Did he receive another one? If he'd gotten hold of it, he would have done as she'd ask… it was the smartest thing to do after all.

Alicia got up and ran back to the orphanage, just to be sure he wasn't there. Unfortunately he wasn't, so Alicia moved to a corner of the garden with a book, eagerly waiting for the next day, hoping Harry would turn up with news.

Thursday passed and again, no sign of Harry.

When Friday came Alicia went for a walk to his house. She crouched down when passing number three and peaked over the hedge when she reached number four. She was surprised to hear drilling.

Being careful of the windows, Alicia quietly moved around the house, having gotten good at climbing fences and letting through small gaps with all the running and hiding she had done with Harry in order to escape his cousin.

Alicia was surprised to find that the doors had been bolted and boarded up with nails and bits of wood.

What on earth was his crazy family trying to do? Lock him away from the world?

It wasn't until she began to leave that she noticed the letter box was boarded up also. She smirked. Apparently the mysterious writer of these letters had tried again. Were the Dursley's seriously trying to keep such a letter from Harry? What was the big deal?

It did explain where Harry was though. Not only him, but none of the family could leave the house thanks to the nonsense.

Saturday Alicia stayed home. She read through her letter yet again, the excitement building up even more. She hadn't told Harry about her leaving but he had enough problems as it was. She'd tell him after this letter business died down.

Sunday was the day Alicia didn't spend with Harry. Apparently it was easier to leave the house when his Uncle had already left for work. Alicia don't see why someone who hated him as much would want him around instead of letting him leave but… the Dursley's were weird.

Monday, she went back to the house again. Only this time, it was quiet. There wasn't a single sound from the house, which was strange as Dudley was usually watching TV, playing a video game or running around with his friends. Even if the little pig wasn't home, his aunt was usually moving about doing something, like dishes, or peeking over the garden hedge to the neighbours.

Alicia pursed her lips and looked up and down the street before making the bold move of heading for the front door. She first leaned against it listening, but still it was quiet.

Alicia took a deep breath and knocked on the door.

No one answered.

Were they out for the day? If so, Harry would be with Mrs Figg, a lady who lived a few streets away. Harry had informed her of all the cats the old lady made him look at every time he went.

Alicia glanced at the window to the living room before making her way around the house to the back door. She peered in through the glass but her mouth fell open. Scattered across the kitchen floor were around fifty letters.

If Harry's pristine Aunt had left such a mess, and after the trouble of barricading the doors, his uncle had left the letters just lying around, then they hadn't just gone out for the day. They'd left!

Alicia frowned. She didn't know how long they had gone for, when they'd left or when they were coming back.

"I'm going to miss Harry's birthday." she muttered. She didn't care if someone was picking her up tomorrow, she would not have missed to spend the morning with him. Now however, it seemed she couldn't even do that.

Alicia huffed in annoyance. These Dursley's were becoming a pain in her backside.

She moved to the park and laid on the grass beside the wood chip filled park and stared at the sky. As usual her mind moved to her shopping trip tomorrow and what her new school might look like. She'd pictured so many things. At first it had involved people flying on brooms and books flying all around the corridors. But the reminder that first years couldn't have brooms changed that.

The cauldron brought thoughts of bubbly potions, dangerous and possibly smelling terrible, all brewed in a dark corner with a knobbly spoon

 _… how am I meant to carry a cauldron?_ she wondered, picturing a huge black bowl.

 _And what was a crystal phials?_ she questioned. All she really wanted to do, was go today, look at all the amazing things she pictured she'd see and then sit down and read every book on the list. She wanted to know everything about the world she had spent almost eleven years not knowing about. Everyone was going to know about the world, and she'd know nothing.

 _But how am I going to get all these books…_ Dumbledore had told her to go to the bank, but she didn't have an account with the wizards bank, and she had not enough money to hand in… how on earth was going to a bank going to help that? Was money put away for her or something? If so, who by?

 _What could be in the book on Fantastic beats?_ she wondered _How did you transfigure something? What was the history of magic…?_ she wanted to books to answer her questions. _Could I really do magic with a wand?_ her excitement only continued to build until the next day.

Alicia visited the Dursley house that evening also but they still weren't home. She decided to try and get Harry a gift while she was in London, if the person collecting her allowed it.

* * *

Alicia was up early the next morning, Ms Bane had made an exception and given her breakfast a little early and by eight o'clock the front door's bell was ringing.

A women stood before them. She had her black hair pulled right back into a tight bun and square glasses sat on her nose. Her expression was stern and Alicia suddenly doubted she'd be able to get some normal shopping done at all.

"Good morning." she said before allowing the women to enter the orphanage. The women stepped in and turned to Alicia.

"Good Morning. Ms Evans I assume?" Alicia nodded. "I am Professor McGonagall of Hogwarts." she introduced

"The deputy headmaster?" Alicia asked surprised. McGonagall looked slightly surprised

"That's correct."

"Thank you so much for writing me my letter." Alicia said quickly.

"You're welcome." the professor smiled slightly as Ms Bane walked in. They introduced themselves to one another before Professor McGonagall got straight to business.

"I will be taking Ms Evans to London where a colleague of mine will take her to get her school supplies. He will then bring her back to here at the end of the day."

"Are we not picking up someone else?" Alicia asked confused

"Due to certain circumstances you will be meeting them in London." McGonagall explained. Alicia nodded, at least she still got to meet them.

"When do you expect her to be home?" Ms Bane wondered

"No latter then five this evening." McGonagall must have been approved by Ms Bane, for she did not even seem to think about questioning the professor or pressing for any more details.

After that, Alicia was following the stern Professor down the road and to the corner. The Professor looked around before holding out her arm.

"Take a tight hold of my arm." she instructed. Alicia, confused, did as she was told, but tried not to grip too hard.

Suddenly Alicia's feet left the floor and the breath was sucked out of her. It felt like she was squeezing through a pipe much to small for her, cutting off her breathing and preventing her from taking that desperate breath in, constricting her lungs.

And then the squeezing stopped, the world stopped spinning, her feet hit the ground and she stumbled while taking a deep breath in. Professor McGonagall caught her as she stumbled, the two were now standing in an alleyway.

"What was that?" Alicia asked as she caught her breath.

"Apparate." McGonagall answered. Alicia looked at her confused, not sure whether to ask as to what that was… "It is how we move around. You learn it when you are seventeen."

"Like teleportation?" Alicia wondered. The Professor looked at her and nodded.

She immediately turned to leave the alleyway and Alicia hurried to follow. She almost froze when she walked out to find the busy streets of London before her. Buses, cars, bikes and people travelled along in both directions of the street.

Alicia stared at it all and down the alleyway shocked.

"Come on Ms Evans!" McGonagall called. She was standing a meter or so down the footpath and Alicia hurried to follow.

They walked down the street, followed the path and then turned to cross the road. There was a tiny, grubby-looking pub ahead of them, if McGonagall hadn't headed straight for it with a pointed look, Alicia might have missed it.

She wasn't sure anyone noticed it actually. Everyone didn't even glance at the small building, it was like they couldn't see it at all. Alicia watched as their eyes seemed to just jump over the small pub.

"The Leaky Cauldron." McGonagall introduced as she opened the door. It was very dark and shabby. A few old women were sitting in a corner, drinking tiny glasses of sherry. One of them was smoking a long pipe. A little man in a top hat was talking to the old bartender, who was quite bald and looked like a toothless walnut.

"This is where I leave you." McGonagall admitted and Alicia looked up at her "I am leaving you in the care of Tom, the Bartender." McGonagall turned as a man approached them.

"Hagrid should arrive shortly to collect her. I have Hogwarts business to attend to, Hagrid will be bringing her back home this afternoon." McGonagall informed. Tom nodded and the professor turned.

"Good day Ms Evans." she said before turning and leaving, not giving the girl time to answer.

"Would you like a drink Ms Evans?" Tom asked

"Thank you, but I haven't been to the bank to collect any money yet." she sighed "I have nothing to pay you." Tom nodded and offered her a seat at one of the tables before he moved back to the bar.

Alicia sat and watched those in the bar. Cups were stirring themselves, tables wiped themselves down, bottles of refills floated through the air. She found it amazing to see such little things.

It wasn't long before the door to the London street opened again and a huge man walked into the pub. He was about twice the size of a normal man. His face was almost completely hidden by a long, shaggy mane of hair and a wild, tangled beard, but you could make out his eyes, glinting like black beetles under all the hair.

Despite this, he seemed to have a kind face. His jacket was completely made up of pockets and his boots were huge. Beside him was a boy, his shaggy black hair and round sellotape glasses were all too familiar and Alicia gapped.

Everyone seemed to know the giant; they waved and smiled at him, and the bartender reached for a glass.

"The usual, Hagrid?"

"Can't, Tom, I'm on Hogwarts business," said Hagrid, clapping his great hand on Harry's shoulder and making Harry's knees buckle.

Alicia's mouth opened wider. Harry was the lad going to Hogwarts?!

She remembered all the letters, his uncle not allowing Harry to read them and treating him like a different race, all the letters over the floor of the Dursley's kitchen, the fact that his cupboard was written on the front.

She practically hit herself in the forehead for not connecting the dots sooner.

"Good Lord," said the bartender, peering at Harry and breaking Alicia out of her thoughts, "Is this — can this be — ?"

The Leaky Cauldron had suddenly gone completely still and silent. Alicia looked around at everyone confused, her entrance hadn't caused such an action…

"Bless my soul," whispered the old bartender, "Harry Potter… what an honour."

He hurried out from behind the bar, rushed toward Harry and seized his hand, tears in his eyes.

"Welcome back, Mr. Potter, welcome back."

Everyone was looking at him. The old woman with the pipe was puffing on it without realising it had gone out. The giant named Hagrid was beaming.

Then there was a great scraping of chairs and the next moment, Harry was surrounded, Alicia's chair had been knocked a few times as she watched in confusion as everyone got up and crowded the eleven year old.

…eleven year old. Alicia gapped in remembering it was Harry's birthday, and she hadn't gotten him anything yet!

"Doris Crockford, Mr. Potter, can't believe I'm meeting you at last."

"So proud, Mr. Potter, I'm just so proud." the voices reached her through the crowd and Harry was barely visible through the bodies.

"Always wanted to shake your hand — I'm all of a flutter."

"Delighted, Mr. Potter, just can't tell you, Diggle's the name, Dedalus Diggle."  
"I've seen you before!" said Harry, as Dedalus Diggle's top hat fell off in his excitement. "You bowed to me once in a shop."  
"He remembers!" cried Dedalus Diggle, looking around at everyone. "Did you hear that? He remembers me!"

Harry shook hands again and again — Doris Crockford kept going back for more.

Finally Alicia decided to get up from her seat and move over to Hagrid's side, seeing as she couldn't get to Harry's immediately. She crept around the giant before standing beside Harry.

"I don't get it… why are they happy to meet you?" she asked him. Harry suddenly jumped and turned to see her, shocked. He looked her over as she smiled.

"Alicia!?"

"Hey." she said, trying to hold back a laugh.

"What are you doing here?"

"Waiting for you two." she shrugged "I wish McGonagall would have told me who was coming." she rolled her eyes

"Professor McGonagall?" Hagrid asked. She nodded "Well you mus' be Alicia Evans." he smiled

"Nice to meet you Hagrid." she held out her hand and Hagrid shook her whole arm. She moved her shoulder when he released her.

"You never told me you were going to a magic school?" Harry admitted

"Well I was going to tell you I got a scholarship to a school in the country the morning your first letter came. I got a visit from the headmaster of Hogwarts and he explained everything to me." She shrugged

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked

"Because you had letter troubles." She said obviously "It never occurred to me the letter might have been the same one Dumbledore gave me." she rolled her eyes annoyed. "I just knew someone else near to me was also going to the school, he wouldn't tell me who."

The two were interrupted by a pale young man who made his way forward, very nervously. One of his eyes was twitching. The three turned to him and Hagrid smiled.

"Professor Quirrell!" said Hagrid. "Harry, Alicia, Professor Quirrell will be one of your teachers at Hogwarts."

"P-P-Potter," stammered Professor Quirrell, grasping Harry's hand, "c-can't t-tell you how p-pleased I am to meet you." he looked at Alicia and she smiled "A-A-A-Alicia…? he began

"Evans." she answered. He nodded to her and shook her hand also.

"What sort of magic do you teach, Professor Quirrell?" Harry wondered

"D-Defence Against the D-D-Dark Arts," muttered Professor Quirrell, as though he'd rather not think about it. "N-not that you n-need it, eh, P-P-Potter?" He laughed nervously. "You'll be g-getting all your equipment, I suppose? I've g-got to p-pick up a new b-book on vampires, m-myself." He looked terrified at the very thought.

The others in the pub wouldn't let Quirrell have Harry to himself and it took ten minutes for them to get away. At last, Hagrid managed to make himself heard over the babble.

"Must get on — lots ter buy Come on, Harry."

Doris Crockford shook Harry's hand one last time, and Hagrid led them through the bar and out into a small, walled courtyard, where there was nothing but a trash can and a few weeds.

Hagrid grinned at Harry.

"Told yeh, didn't I? Told yeh you was famous. Even Professor Quirrell was tremblin' ter meet yeh — mind you, he's usually tremblin'."

"Is he always that nervous?"  
"Oh, yeah. Poor bloke. Brilliant mind. He was fine while he was studyin' outta books but then he took a year off ter get some first-hand experience… They say he met vampires in the Black Forest, and there was a nasty bit o' trouble with a hag — never been the same since. Scared of the students, scared of his own subject — now, where's me umbrella?"

"Why's Harry famous?" Alicia questioned confused.

"It's a bit of a long story." Harry admitted with a bit of a frown.

"We better stop for lunch then." Alicia said strongly looking at the two. Harry glanced at Hagrid but he was muttering to himself and eyeing the brick work before them.

"Three up… two across…" he muttered. "Right, stand back, you two."

He tapped the wall three times with the point of his umbrella.

The brick he had touched quivered — it wriggled — in the middle, a small hole appeared — it grew wider and wider — a second later they were facing an archway large enough even for Hagrid, an archway onto a cobbled street that twisted and turned out of sight.

Alicia's mouth hung open as she stared at the archway and then to the small old looking town beyond it.

"Welcome," said Hagrid, "to Diagon Alley."

He grinned at Harry and Alicia's amazement. They stepped through the archway, Alicia turning to look in every direction as Harry looked quickly over his shoulder and saw the archway shrink instantly back into solid wall.

The sun shone brightly on a stack of cauldrons outside the nearest shop. Cauldrons — All Sizes — Copper, Brass, Pewter, Silver — Self-Stirring — Collapsible, said a sign hanging over them.

"Pewter, standard size 2 cauldron." Alicia remembered pointing at the store.

"Yeah, you'll be needin' one," said Hagrid, "but we gotta get yer money first."

"Yeah, I still worry that I have none?" Alicia said. Harry turned to the giant and nodded in agreement. Hagrid only smiled at them.

Alicia and Harry shared a look but their gazes were quickly dragged somewhere else. Alicia pointed to certain shops, and by what was in the windows, guessed if they could get the supplies they needed or not.

A plump woman outside an Apothecary was shaking her head as they passed, saying, "Dragon liver, sixteen Sickles an ounce, they're mad."

A low, soft hooting came from a dark shop with a sign saying Eeylops Owl Emporium — Tawny, Screech, Barn, Brown, and Snowy. Several boys of about their age had their noses pressed against a window with broomsticks in it.

"Look," one of them said, "the new Nimbus Two Thousand — fastest ever —"

There were shops selling robes, shops selling telescopes and strange silver instruments Alicia had never seen before, windows stacked with barrels of bat spleens and eels' eyes, tottering piles of spell books, quills, and rolls of parchment, potion bottles, globes of the moon…

"Gringotts," said Hagrid.

"Grin— what?" Alicia questioned. Hagrid pointed to the building before them. It was a snowy white building and towered over the other little shops. Standing beside its burnished bronze doors, wearing a uniform of scarlet and gold, was a very short man, a head shorter then Harry at least. He had a swarthy, clever face, a pointed beard and very long fingers and feet.

"Yeah, that's a goblin," said Hagrid quietly as they walked up the white stone steps toward him. Alicia eyed him excitedly as he bowed when they walked inside, she gladly bowed back.

Now they were facing a second pair of doors, silver this time, with words engraved upon them:

 _Enter, stranger, but take heed  
_

 _Of what awaits the sin of greed,_

 _For those who take, but do not earn,_

 _Must pay most dearly in their turn._

 _So if you seek beneath our floors  
_

 _A treasure that was never yours,_

 _Thief, you have been warned, beware_

 _Of finding more than treasure there._

"Like I said, yeh'd be mad ter try an' rob it," said Hagrid.

"How come?" Alicia wondered

"Yeh'd get lost, all sort's o' magic enchantments." Hagrid answered.

"Hagrid said it goes for miles below the underground." Harry whispered. Alicia's eyes widened and she looked down at the floor below her.

A pair of goblins bowed them through the silver doors and they were in a vast marble hall. About a hundred more goblins were sitting on high stools behind a long counter, scribbling in large ledgers, weighing coins in brass scales, examining precious stones through eyeglasses. There were too many doors to count leading off the hall, and yet more goblins were showing people in and out of these.

Hagrid, Alicia and Harry made for the counter at the very end of the hall.

"Morning," said Hagrid to a free goblin. "We've come ter take some money outta Mr. Harry Potter and Ms Alicia Evan's safe."

"You have their keys, sir?" Alicia's stomach dropped. She didn't have a key?! What was she going to do? She didn't even have a vault!

"Got 'em here somewhere," said Hagrid. Alicia's eyebrows furrowed together as she watched Hagrid start to empty his pockets onto the counter. He scattered a handful of mouldy dog biscuits over the goblins book of numbers. The goblin wrinkled his nose. Harry watched the goblin on their right weighing a pile of rubies as big as glowing coals while Alicia tried to get a peak down the many doors.

"Got 'em," said Hagrid at last, holding up two tiny golden keys. Alicia eyed the two keys, confused as to why she had one…

The goblin looked at them closely.

"That seems to be in order."

"An' I've also got a letter here from Professor Dumbledore," said Hagrid importantly, throwing out his chest. "It's about the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen."

The goblin read the letter carefully.

"Very well," he said, handing it back to Hagrid, "I will have someone take you down to all three vaults. Griphook!"

Griphook was yet another goblin. Once Hagrid had crammed all the dog biscuits back inside his pockets, he, Harry and Alicia followed Griphook toward one of the doors leading off the hall.

"What's the You-Know-What in vault seven hundred and thirteen?" Harry asked.

"Can't tell yeh that," said Hagrid mysteriously. "Very secret. Hogwarts business. Dumbledore's trusted me. More'n my job's worth ter tell yeh that."

"Hagrid, how come I have a vault?" Alicia questioned as Griphook held the door open for them.

"Come now, yeh didn' think yeh parents would leave you with nothin' now did yeh?" Hagrid smiled at her. Alicia's eyes widened, her parents left her money?

They were in a narrow stone passageway lit with flaming torches. It sloped steeply downward and there were little railway tracks on the floor. Griphook whistled and a small cart came hurtling up the tracks toward them. They climbed in — Hagrid with some difficulty — and were off.

It was like a roller coaster. The cart whizzed through the maze of twisting passages, it dropped down, sped uphill and threw them all to the side as it turned several sharp corners. The rattling cart seemed to know its own way, because Griphook wasn't steering.

Their eyes stung as the cold air rushed past them, but they kept them wide open, Alicia refused to take her eyes off the path and tried to look down every passageway leading off theirs. Once, Harry thought he saw a burst of fire at the end of a passage and twisted around to see if it was a dragon, but too late — they plunged even deeper, passing an underground lake where huge stalactites and stalagmites grew from the ceiling and floor.

"I never know," Harry called to Hagrid over the noise of the cart, "what's the difference between a stalagmite and a stalactite?"

"Stalagmite's got an 'm' in it," said Hagrid. "An' don' ask me questions just now, I think I'm gonna be sick."

He did look very green.

"Stalagmite's is a type of rock formation that rises from the floor of a cave due to the accumulation of material deposited on the floor from ceiling drippings." Alicia shouted "While stalactite is a type of formation that hangs from the ceiling of caves, hot springs, or manmade structures such as bridges and mines."

"How do you know?"

"I like to read." Alicia grinned "I remember most things I read too."

When the cart stopped at last beside a small door in the passage wall, Hagrid got out and had to lean against the wall to stop his knees from trembling.

Alicia got out and her legs wobbled slightly for the first few steps but she was fine within the minute.

Griphook unlocked the door before them and a lot of green smoke came billowing out, and as it cleared, Harry gasped. Inside were mounds of gold coins. Columns of silver. Heaps of little bronze Knuts.

"All yours," smiled Hagrid. Alicia looked at Hagrid, to Harry and back to the gold. Harry looked at her surprised also.

"God if you get a good sum what about me…?" she muttered, shrinking down in worry.

"I'm sure you'll be similar." Harry said, his words dragging as he stared at the sight.

"Yeah right…" Alicia whispered.

Hagrid helped Harry pile some of it into a bag.

"The gold ones are Galleons," he explained. "Seventeen silver Sickles to a Galleon and twenty-nine Knuts to a Sickle, it's easy enough. Right, that should be enough fer a couple o' terms, we'll keep the rest safe for yeh." He turned to Griphook.

"Next?" he pointed to Alicia and Griphook nodded. He turned, left the cart and moved to the vault next door. Alicia rose an eyebrow.

"It's right next to Harry's?" she asked Hagrid. The giant said nothing and Alicia looked at him sternly but he only turned from her as Griphook unlocked the door.

There was no green smoke from this one, but a fair bit of dust. Alicia stared at it, there were mounds of gold, silver, bronze and jewels.

"I take it back…" Alicia muttered through her surprise.

"Told you." Harry smiled, Hagrid held her a bag also for her money and Alicia took it without looking away from the gold, as if worried it'll disappear the second she blinked.

"Come on Alicia." he hurried. She looked at him slightly annoyed before moving in and took about the same as Harry, a few more for his birthday present just in case.

"Right then. Vault seven hundred and thirteen now, please, and can we go more slowly?" Hagrid asked Griphook.

"One speed only," said Griphook. They returned to the cart and set off again, Alicia clutched her bag of gold tightly, worried of dropping and loosing it along the trail.

They were going even deeper now and gathering speed. The air became colder and colder as they hurtled round tight corners. They went rattling over an underground ravine, and Harry leaned over the side to try to see what was down at the dark bottom, but Hagrid groaned and pulled him back by the scruff of his neck.

Vault seven hundred and thirteen had no keyhole.

"Stand back," said Griphook importantly. He stroked the door gently with one of his long fingers and it simply melted away.

"If anyone but a Gringotts goblin tried that, they'd be sucked through the door and trapped in there," said Griphook.

"How often do you check to see if anyone's inside?" Harry asked.

"About once every ten years," said Griphook with a rather nasty grin. Harry and Alicia shared a horrified look as the door opened.

Something really extraordinary had to be inside this top security vault. Alicia noticed a very small bundle on the floor of the vault and nudged Harry, pointing to the floor, showing a grubby little package wrapped up in brown paper lying on the floor. Hagrid picked it up and tucked it deep inside his coat while the two eleven year olds shared a confused glance.

"Come on, back in this infernal cart, and don't talk to me on the way back, its best if I keep me mouth shut," said Hagrid. Alicia smirked but followed anyway.


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

One wild cart ride later they stood blinking in the sunlight outside Gringotts. Alicia stared at everything, unsure as to what to do first or what was more important. Harry was no different.

"Oh how about the owls? Oh no robes would be smart! Oh! Oh! A wand! No the book store!" Alicia muttered as she took several steps in the different directions and pointed, no idea what was most important or more exciting.

"Might as well get yer uniform," said Hagrid, nodding toward Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions.

Alicia turned and nodded immediately.

"Listen, Harry, Alicia, would yeh mind if I slipped off fer a pick-me-up in the Leaky Cauldron? I hate them Gringotts carts." He did still look a bit sick.

"Of course." the two nodded, and so Harry and Alicia entered Madam Malkin's shop alone.

Madam Malkin was a squat, smiling witch dressed all in mauve.

"Hogwarts, dears?" she said, when Harry started to speak.

"Yes please." Alicia managed to say before she continued

"Got the lot here — another young man being fitted up just now, in fact."

In the back of the shop, a boy with a pale, pointed face was standing on a footstool while a second witch pinned up his long black robes. Madam Malkin stood Harry on a stool next to him, slipped a long robe over his head, and began to pin it to the right length. Alicia was placed up as well, there were just enough hands for her not to wait, and the same happened to her.

"Hello," said the boy, "Hogwarts, too?"

"Yes," said Alicia and Harry.

"My father's next door buying my books and mother's up the street looking at wands," said the boy. He had a bored, drawling voice. "Then I'm going to drag them off to look at racing brooms. I don't see why first years can't have their own. I think I'll bully father into getting me one and I'll smuggle it in somehow."

"I think I'd like to just buy one for next year, or for holidays. I'd rather a brand new one." Alicia smiled, it was hard to do so, the boy reminder her of Harry's spoiled cousin, but she didn't need to make any enemies before the year even began. He smirked in a nod and Harry looked at her, she shrugged as he looked away.

"Have _you_ got your own broom?" the boy went on.

"No," said Harry.

"Not yet."

"Play Quidditch at all?"

"No," Harry said again, wondering what on earth Quidditch could be. Alicia assumed it was some sort of game.

" _I_ do — Father says it's a crime if I'm not picked to play for my House, and I must say, I agree."

"What team's your favourite?" The boy babbled something that didn't make any sense to either of them and quickly continued

"Know what House you'll be in yet?"

"No," said Harry, Alicia could tell he felt left out and silly for not knowing these things.

"Well, no one really knows until they get there, do they, but I know I'll be in Slytherin, all our family have been — imagine being in Hufflepuff, I think I'd leave, wouldn't you?"

"What is it _you_ don't like about Hufflepuff?" Alicia asked, the word twisting her face in confusion as she said it.

Harry looked at her again, surprised she could carry the conversation.

"They're full of the doughnuts." the boy sneered, smirking slightly but rolling his eyes. Alicia didn't have an answer for that but her eyes narrowed slightly. Harry looked at her and she pull a face that caused him to smirk slightly.

"I say, look at that man!" said the boy suddenly, nodding toward the front window. Hagrid was standing there, grinning at Harry and pointing at three large ice creams to show he couldn't come in.

"That's Hagrid," said Harry, pleased to know something the boy didn't. "He works at Hogwarts."

"Oh," said the boy, "I've heard of him. He's a sort of servant, isn't he?"

"Servant?" Alicia spat the word, slightly irritated the boy would call anyone that.

"He's the gamekeeper," said Harry. He was liking the boy less and less every second.

"Yes, exactly. I heard he's a sort of _savage_ — lives in a hut on the school grounds and every now and then he gets drunk, tries to do magic, and ends up setting fire to his bed."

"I think he's brilliant," said Harry coldly.

"He's done a fine job at looking after us." Alicia nodded, her face hard.

" _Do_ you?" said the boy, with a slight sneer. "Why is he with you? Where are your parents?"

"They're dead," said Harry and Alicia shortly. They shared a glance but didn't expand, Alicia didn't know what happened with either parents, and Harry probably didn't want to go into detail.

"Oh, sorry," said the other, not sounding sorry at all. "But they were _our_ kind, weren't they?"

"They were a witch and wizard, if that's what you mean." and Alicia nodded

"Are you two siblings then?" the boy asked. The two looked at him confused

"No?" they answered

"Strange, you look like siblings." Harry and Alicia shared a confused look but the boy didn't seem to care, he just continued.

"I really don't think they should let the other sort in, do you? They're just not the same, they've never been brought up to know our ways. Some of them have never even heard of Hogwarts until they get the letter, imagine. I think they should keep it in the old wizarding families. What's your surname, anyway?" The boy said. Harry didn't get to answer as Madam Malkin spoke.

"That's you done, my dear," and Harry, not sorry for an excuse to stop talking to the boy, hopped down from the footstool.

"You as well sweetie." Alicia smiled as she looked at the robes and stepped down.

"Well, I'll see you at Hogwarts, I suppose," said the drawling boy.

"I hope not." Alicia muttered to Harry as they paid for the uniforms.

"How did you know about all that?" Harry asked

"What?"

"Quidditch, and Hufflepuff?"

"I didn't." she shrugged "I just, asked questions that made it look like I knew." she grinned.

"I feel left out, not knowing."

"That's why I want my books." Alicia grinned

"But you love books," he reminded her

"I like to learn and I hate not knowing all these things. I will not be going to Hogwarts this clueless." she said determined

"Think you could help me out?" Harry asked

"Of course." she smiled as they reached Hagrid. They handed them an ice-cream each.

Harry was rather quiet as he ate the ice cream Hagrid had bought him (chocolate and raspberry with chopped nuts).

"What's up?" said Hagrid.

"Nothing," Harry lied. They stopped to buy parchment and quills. Harry cheered up a bit when he found a bottle of ink that changed colour as you wrote. When they had left the shop, he said, "Hagrid, what's Quidditch?"

"Yes, is it a game?" Alicia said immediately interested.

"Blimey, Harry, I keep forgettin' how little yeh know — not knowin' about Quidditch!"

"Don't make me feel worse," said Harry. He told Hagrid about the pale boy in Madam Malkin's.

"— and he said people from Muggle families shouldn't even be allowed in —"

"Yer not _from_ a Muggle family. Neither of yah are." he pointed to them "If he'd known who yeh _were_ — he's grown up knowin' yer name if his parents are wizardin' folk. You saw what everyone in the Leaky Cauldron was like when they saw yeh. Anyway, what does he know about it, some o' the best I ever saw were the only ones with magic in 'em in a long line o' Muggles — look at yer mum! Look what she had fer a sister!"

"So what _is_ Quidditch?"

"Why is Harry famous?" Alicia asked again

"It's our sport. Wizard sport. It's like — like soccer in the Muggle world — everyone follows Quidditch — played up in the air on broomsticks and there's four balls — sorta hard ter explain the rules." Alicia sighed at his answer

"And what are Slytherin and Hufflepuff?"

"School Houses. There's four. Everyone says Hufflepuff are a lot o' duffers, but —"

"Doughnuts." Alicia remembered the boy saying.

"I bet I'm in Hufflepuff," said Harry gloomily.

"Better Hufflepuff than Slytherin," said Hagrid darkly. "There's not a single witch or wizard who went bad who wasn't in Slytherin. You-Know-Who was one."

"Vol—, sorry — You-Know-Who was at Hogwarts?"

"Years an' years ago," said Hagrid.

"You-know-who?" Alicia asked

"The wizard that killed Harry's parents." Hagrid answered

"Harry's parents are murdered?!" Alicia asked stunned

"Tried killin' Harry too." Alicia looked at him stunned "That's where he got his scar."

"What scar?"

"This one." Harry raised his fringe to show the lightning snapped scar on his forehead.

"I have a funny scar like that." Alicia smiled

"Really?" Harry asked

"Yes," she moved her hair to expose a wonky cross shaped scar on her neck. "Had it since I was born." she shrugged as they moved to the book store. Harry didn't get to say anything as Alicia was inside the bookstore within a blink.

The shop was called Flourish and Blotts where the shelves were stacked to the ceiling with books as large as paving stones bound in leather; books the size of postage stamps in covers of silk; books full of peculiar symbols and a few books with nothing in them at all.

Hagrid almost had to drag Harry away from _Curses and Counter-curses_ ( _Bewitch Your Friends and Befuddle Your Enemies with the Latest Revenges: Hair Loss, Jelly-Legs, Tongue-Tying and Much, Much More_ ) by Professor Vindictus Viridian.

"I was trying to find out how to curse Dudley."

"I'm not sayin' that's not a good idea, but yer not ter use magic in the Muggle world except in very special circumstances," said Hagrid. "An' anyway, yeh couldn' work any of them curses yet, yeh'll need a lot more study before yeh get ter that level."

Alicia had all her school books within the minute as well as Harry's which she shoved into his hands to distract him from the curses book.

"You don't want to get into trouble before we start do you." she was grinning though and she went to find some other books for her own curiosity.

She bought a few history books, a few extra spell books and also another potions, magical creatures and transfiguration book.

"You need all those?" Harry asked as she carried the pile to the front desk.

"No of course not." she said as though it was a stupid question. "I want all these." she corrected with a grin "I am going to need something to do for the next month or so and I want to know everything! It's so exciting!" she said jumping around slightly. She paid for all the books and Hagrid helped her carry them all.

"I don't even know which one to start with." she said looking at the ones in her hands.

"How 'bout we finish yeh shopping first." Hagrid smiled.

Hagrid wouldn't let Harry buy a solid gold cauldron

"It says pewter on yer list"

"But gold looks prettier." Alicia admitted with a giggle, though she'd picked up a pewter one herself. They each got a nice set of scales for weighing potion ingredients and a collapsible brass telescope. Then they visited the Apothecary, which was fascinating enough to make up for its horrible smell, a mixture of bad eggs and rotted cabbages. Barrels of slimy stuff stood on the floor; jars of herbs, dried roots, and bright powders lined the walls; bundles of feathers, strings of fangs, and snarled claws hung from the ceiling.

While Hagrid asked the man behind the counter for a supply of some basic potion ingredients for Harry and Alicia, Harry himself examined silver unicorn horns at twenty-one Galleons each and minuscule, glittery-black beetle eyes, five Knuts a scoop. Alicia asked about everything she could see, by the end of it Harry had to drag her from the room, over the smell, much to the store owners appreciation.

"I just want to know everything." she exclaimed again.

Outside the Apothecary, Hagrid checked Harry's list again.

"Just yer wand left — oh yeah, an' I still haven't got yeh a birthday present."

"Oh my god!" Alicia all but shouted "Me either, oh…" she started looking at all the shops, spinning on her heal, hoping something would stand out.  
"You don't have to —"

"I know I don't have to. Tell yeh what, I'll get yer animal. Not a toad, toads went outta fashion years ago, yeh'd be laughed at — an' I don' like cats, they make me sneeze. I'll get yer an owl. All the kids want owls, they're dead useful, carry yer mail an' everythin'."

Alicia frowned, claiming that was a good thing.

"Oh I'll buy you the cauldron!" she beamed

"No." Hagrid disagreed, making her frown deeply.

"Come on Alicia, I need to get you a gift also." Hagrid claimed, causing Harry to look at her surprised as Alicia's cheeks burned red.

"What?" he asked

"Uh…"

"It's Alicia's birthday too, didn' yeh know that?" Hagrid asked

"Why didn't you tell me?" Harry asked her

"You didn't ask." she smiled

"I'll get yeh both an owl then." Alicia beamed but it sunk again

"I still don't know what to get you." she grumbled to Harry

"Me either." he had the bigger trouble though

"Oh I know!" Alicia beamed, her eyes bright "I'll buy your wand for you."

"No," Harry began to shake his head

"Done! And I'd like to see you stop me." she said strongly. Harry knew he'd never get her to change her mind.

"Alright, then I'll buy yours in exchange." he said, Alicia blinked and grinned

"Deal." she nodded and shook his hand.

Twenty minutes later, they left Eeylops Owl Emporium, which had been dark and full of rustling and flickering, jewel-bright eyes. Harry now carried a large cage that held a beautiful snowy owl, fast asleep with her head under her wing. Alicia on the other hand had a bird that closely resembled her, it had black feathers, a couple of random white ones thrown in down it's back, and bright green eyes. Harry couldn't stop stammering his thanks, sounding just like Professor Quirrell. Alicia said it in excitement, happy to have her own pet.

"Don' mention it," said Hagrid gruffly. "Don' expect you've had a lotta presents from them Dursleys. Just Ollivanders left now — only place fer wands, Ollivanders, and yeh gotta have the best wand."

The last shop was narrow and shabby. Peeling gold letters over the door read Ollivanders: Makers of Fine Wands since 382 B.C. A single wand lay on a faded purple cushion in the dusty window.

A tinkling bell rang somewhere in the depths of the shop as they stepped inside. It was a tiny place, empty except for a single, spindly chair that Hagrid sat on to wait.

Alicia felt that calling out through the shop was not allowed. The room was as quiet as a library and the very dust and silence in here seemed to tingle with some secret magic.

"Good afternoon," said a soft voice. Harry jumped. Hagrid must have jumped, too, because there was a loud crunching noise and he got quickly off the spindly chair. Alicia spun around to see who'd spoken.

An old man was standing before them, his wide, pale eyes shining like moons through the gloom of the shop.

"Hello," said Harry awkwardly.

"Good day." Alicia smiled

"Ah yes," said the man. "Yes, yes. I thought I'd be seeing you soon. Harry Potter." It wasn't a question. "You have your mother's eyes. It seems only yesterday she was in here herself, buying her first wand. Ten and a quarter inches long, swishy, made of willow. Nice wand for charm work."

Mr. Ollivander moved closer to Harry. Harry wished he would blink. Those silvery eyes were a bit creepy. Alicia watched feeling a little awkward also, it was strange to watch.

"Your father, on the other hand, favoured a mahogany wand. Eleven inches. Pliable. A little more power and excellent for transfiguration. Well, I say your father favoured it — it's really the wand that chooses the wizard, of course."

Mr. Ollivander had come so close that he and Harry were almost nose to nose.

"And that's where…"

Mr. Ollivander touched the lightning scar on Harry's forehead with a long, white finger.

"I'm sorry to say I sold the wand that did it," he said softly. "Thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Powerful wand, very powerful, and in the wrong hands… well, if I'd known what that wand was going out into the world to do…"

"Ahem," Alicia coughed. Ollivander turned to her and smiled.

"Ah, Alicia Evans." Mr Ollivander's eyes looked between the two "I remember your parents quite well. You do look like your mother, beautiful women. However the dark hair comes from your father." he nodded but left it at that as he turned to Hagrid.

"Rubeus! Rubeus Hagrid! How nice to see you again… Oak, sixteen inches, rather bendy, wasn't it?"

"It was, sir, yes," said Hagrid.

"Good wand, that one. But I suppose they snapped it in half when you got expelled?" said Mr. Ollivander, suddenly stern.

"Er — yes, they did, yes," said Hagrid, shuffling his feet. "I've still got the pieces, though," he added brightly.

"But you don't _use_ them?" said Mr. Ollivander sharply.

"Oh, no, sir," said Hagrid quickly. Harry and Alicia noticed he gripped his pink umbrella very tightly as he spoke. She gave Harry a look and he understood it.

"Hmmm," said Mr. Ollivander, giving Hagrid a piercing look. "Well, now — Mr. Potter. Ms Evans. Let me see." He pulled a long tape measure with silver markings out of his pocket. "Which is your wand arm?"

"Er — well, I'm right-handed," said Harry.

"Same." Alicia nodded

"Hold out your arm. That's it." He measured Harry from shoulder to finger, then wrist to elbow, shoulder to floor, knee to armpit and round his head. As he measured, he said, "Every Ollivander wand has a core of a powerful magical substance, Mr. Potter. We use unicorn hairs, phoenix tail feathers, and the heartstrings of dragons. No two Ollivander wands are the same, just as no two unicorns, dragons, or phoenixes are quite the same. And of course, you will never get such good results with another wizard's wand."

Harry suddenly realised that the tape measure, which was measuring between his nostrils, was doing this on its own. Mr. Ollivander was flitting around the shelves, taking down boxes.

The measuring tape moved to Alicia next and measured all of the measurements as it had on Harry. She watched it interestingly before Mr Ollivander spoke.

"That will do," he said, and the tape measure crumpled into a heap on the floor. "Right then, Mr. Potter. Try this one. Beechwood and dragon heartstring. Nine inches. Nice and flexible. Just take it and give it a wave."

Harry took the wand and waved it around a bit, but Mr. Ollivander snatched it out of his hand almost at once.

"Maple and phoenix feather. Seven inches. Quite whippy. Try —"

Harry tried — but he had hardly raised the wand when it, too, was snatched back by Mr. Ollivander.

"No, no — here, ebony and unicorn hair, eight and a half inches, springy. Go on, go on, try it out."

Harry tried. And tried. He had no idea what Mr. Ollivander was waiting for. The pile of tried wands was mounting higher and higher on the spindly chair, but the more wands Mr. Ollivander pulled from the shelves, the happier he seemed to become.

"Tricky customer, eh? Not to worry, we'll find the perfect match here somewhere — I wonder, now — yes, why not — unusual combination — holly and phoenix feather, eleven inches, nice and supple."

Harry took the wand. He raised the wand above his head, brought it swishing down through the dusty air and a stream of red and gold sparks shot from the end like a firework, throwing dancing spots of light on to the walls. Hagrid whooped and clapped and Mr. Ollivander cried, "Oh, bravo! Yes, indeed, oh, very good. Well, well, well… how curious… how very curious…"

He put Harry's wand back into its box and wrapped it in brown paper, still muttering, "Curious…curious…"

"Curious?" Alicia questioned, getting slightly annoyed by the wand maker's mumbles.

"Sorry," said Harry, "but _what's_ curious?"  
Mr. Ollivander fixed Harry with his pale stare.  
"I remember every wand I've ever sold, Mr. Potter. Every single wand. It so happens that the phoenix whose tail feather is in your wand, gave another feather — just one other. It is very curious indeed that you should be destined for this wand when its brother — why, its brother gave you that scar."

Harry swallowed.

"Yes, thirteen-and-a-half inches. Yew. Curious indeed how these things happen. The wand chooses the wizard, remember… I think we must expect great things from you, Mr. Potter… After all, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named did great things — terrible, yes, but great."

Harry shivered. He wasn't sure he liked Mr. Ollivander too much. He went to pay but Alicia immediate pushed in and gave Ollivander seven gold Galleons for his wand.

"It's a birthday gift." Alicia smiled when Ollivander looked at her curiously.

"Well Ms Evans, your turn." and he returned to the shelves.

"Unicorn, Oak, nine inches." she took the wand and it was gone from her hand.

"Dragon heartstring, cherry, eleven and a half inches." She took that and held it for a minute before Ollivander snatched it.

"No surprise you both would be difficult." he muttered

"Why?" Alicia asked before she could stop herself. Ollivander however had moved to the back of the shop somewhere. Alicia turned to Hagrid but he was staring at something outside that he seemed very interested in. She narrowed her eyes as Ollivander came back. He took another wand from it's box and handed it to her slowly.

Alicia, seeing his hesitance took it. Heat flooded through her fingers and filled her body, similar happened as to Harry, sparks shot out of the end of the wand and exploded like fireworks.

"Well, that's interesting." Ollivander was smiling though

"Why?" Alicia wondered

"Though it is not the same wand of Mr Potter's here, holly, unusually mixed with cherry, and phoenix feather, twelve inches. Very similar." he nodded as he wrapped the box. Alicia and Harry shared a look

"Is there a reason for that?" Alicia asked slowly. Ollivander smiled but did not answered as he requested the money. Harry paid and Ollivander smiled at him.

"Birthday present?" he asked. They nodded, not bothering to be surprised as to how he guessed.

* * *

"Well I'd say that's a good day." Alicia smiled as she, Harry and Hagrid made their way back down Diagon Alley, the sun now hanging low in the sky.

They left the Leaky Cauldron, not empty compared to earlier and towards the Underground. People stared at the two owls in their cages, their strangely wrapped parcels and a few books sitting in their cauldrons. Alicia was itching to pick one up and read it but the covers would draw attention more then the owls.

None of them spoke until they got to Paddington station.

"Got time fer a bite to eat before yer train leaves," Hagrid said.

He bought Harry and Alicia each a hamburger and they sat down on plastic seats to eat them. Harry kept looking around. Everything looked so strange, somehow.

"You all right, Harry? Yer very quiet," said Hagrid. Alicia looked at him also. Harry was quiet for a while.

"Everyone thinks I'm special," he said at last. "All those people in the Leaky Cauldron, Professor Quirrell, Mr. Ollivander… but I don't know anything about magic at all. How can they expect great things? I'm famous and I can't even remember what I'm famous for. I don't know what happened when Vol—, sorry — I mean, the night my parents died."

"You can't be blamed for that Harry." Alicia rolled her eyes "Everyone knows you disappeared into the muggle world or you would have been in their news all the time. Seeing as that boy didn't recognise you, I'm going to say that didn't happen."

Hagrid leaned across the table. Behind the wild beard and eyebrows he wore a very kind smile.

"Don' you worry, Harry. You'll learn fast enough. Everyone starts at the beginning at Hogwarts, you'll be just fine. Just be yerself. I know it's hard. Yeh've been singled out, an' that's always hard. But yeh'll have a great time at Hogwarts — I did — still do, 'smatter of fact."

"Come on Harry, we're going together." Alicia nudged him giddily. Harry smiled slightly before turning to them both.

"So who's this Vol— guy?" she asked "Or, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. What a mouthful." she muttered, Harry leaned in towards her and whispered

"Voldemort."

"Voldemort?" Hagrid shivered slightly

"They don't like the name." Harry shrugged

"Why? It's just a name." she thought. Harry nodded in agreeing.

Hagrid helped the two onto a train that would take them both back to Surrey, assuming the Dursley's had returned that was, and Hagrid gave both kids an envelope.

"Yer tickets fer Hogwarts," he said. "First o' September — King's Cross — it's all on yer ticket. Any problems with the Dursleys, send me a letter with yer owl, she'll know where to find me… See yeh soon, Harry. Good bye Alicia."

"Bye Hagrid." Alicia waved before the train pulled out of the station. Harry wanted to watch Hagrid until he was out of sight; he rose in his seat and pressed his nose against the window, but he blinked and Hagrid had gone.

"Oh this is so real! I'm so excited!" Alicia said under her breath to keep those in the cart from hearing her.

"Aren't you worried?" Harry asked

"No, I have plenty of books to help me get at least the basics and I'm sure not everyone could be like that boy in Madam Malkin's Robes. So, why worry?" Alicia wondered "Plus, I've got you, so I'm not alone, and currently we're both in the same boat." Harry nodded, feeling slightly better then he had before.

Until he remembered he had to return to the Dursley's.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Alicia could hardly get her nose out of her books for the next month. She secluded herself somewhere in the orphanage, usually with another book in front to hide the cover, or she'd move to the park and read it there. She did this often as Harry would join her and she'd point out all the things she'd learnt. For example, she told him all about Hogwarts in the book _Hogwarts, A History._ which she'd purchased.

He was interested in all the magical creatures, not as much for potions, but he couldn't escape the charms as it had been Alicia's favourite book. She'd often put down one of the others and returned to it, having read it five times already.

They'd also sent a few letters to one another through their owls. Harry had called his snowy owl Hedwig from one of their school books while Alicia had called hers Noel. The owls came and went from their rooms, letters or not and Alicia had quite a few random visits from Hedwig, normally bringing dead mice with her. Of course she had to be careful as she shared the room with Alex and Portia.

Alicia had actually been allowed inside the Dursley house as well. It was weird though however as the Dursley's didn't even acknowledge her. In fact they didn't acknowledge either of them, they had been ignoring Harry since he returned.

Dudley on the other hand ran whenever Harry entered the room. Alicia found it hilarious and after waving her wand around in front of him once, he refused to do the same with her, which she took pride of by occasionally just poking her head into what ever room he was in.

Alicia had arranged with Ms Bane her travel to Kings Cross station and the women was happy to drive her. Alicia's only problem however was her ticket. It said she was supposed to catch the Hogwarts Expresses from platform nine and three-quarters.

"Harry, I'm pretty sure there's no such thing as platform nine and three-quarters. It goes nine, then ten." Alicia admitted as she paced Harry's room.

"Maybe there's a secret platform?" Harry shrugged

"Very likely. The problem is, how do we find it or get to it if it's a secret?" Alicia muttered "I am not missing the train to my first year." she said strongly

"Maybe Hagrid forgot to tell us something… we could send him an owl…" Harry suggested

"Unless there _is_ a platform nine and three-quarters… I've never been to Kings Cross so…" Alicia mumbled.

"We could ask Uncle Vernon." Harry suggested

"Is he even talking to you?" Alicia wondered. Harry didn't answer "Have you even spoken to him about getting a lift, cause I'm sure we can if necessary." Again Harry didn't answer.

"I think I should ask closer to the date, that way there's less time for him to get angry at me…" Harry muttered and Alicia nodded in agreement.

* * *

On the morning of September first, Alicia was up early and made sure everything was packed. She went through her new trunk four times to check she had everything and double checking with her list she'd received with her letter.

She made sure Noel was in her cage, shut tightly and she had plenty of water and food for the trip. She checked her train ticket was in her pocket, and not likely to move before she, quietly, lugged her things down to the front door.

Ms Bane gave her an early breakfast and they got into the car and made their way to the station.

As most stations were, it was packed. People walked and scurried everywhere, tickets in hands and phones by ears.

"I'll be alright from here Ms Bane." Alicia smiled as they had unloaded the trunk and owl for the car.

"Are you sure?" Ms Bane asked looking around. Alicia, though inside thought the complete opposite, nodded. Ms Bane bit her lip hesitating but nodded slowly all the same.

"I'll be back at the end of the year. Unless you want me home for Christmas?"

"That's alright dear, you can stay if you'd like, just let me know." Alicia nodded and grabbed the trunk and cage. With the help of Ms Bane, she placed it on a trolly and hugged the caretaker.

"Have fun."

"I will." Alicia remembered her excitement again before waving and turning into the station. She pushed the trolly and came to platforms nine and ten. She huffed. As expected, there was nothing in between. She narrowed her eyes in frustration. Now what was she to do?

She looked around and tried to spot the uncontrollable mess of black hair. Harry would have the same problem and would be looking for an explanation also.

She found him talking to a guard. By his expression, the guard was not impressed and eventually walked away.

"I could have told you talking to a muggle wouldn't work." she sighed as Harry looked at her worried.

"What do we do?" Harry panicked "Do we have to tap the bricks? Should we take out our wands and tap them all between the platforms?"

"I feel like that would be too obvious. We're supposed to keep it a secret remember, don't you think someone would notice people tapping sticks to the wall?" Harry nodded as he realised she was right.

"So what?"

"Maybe we could find a wizard…" Alicia muttered

"How?" Harry wondered, Alicia pursed her lips.

At that moment a group of people passed just behind him and the two caught a few words of what they were saying.

"— packed with Muggles, of course —"

Alicia noticed the word and both her and Harry spun around to find the speaker. She was a plump woman who was talking to four boys, all with flaming red hair. Each of them was pushing a trunk like Harry's in front of him — and they had an _owl._

Alicia turned and smirked at Harry as if to say 'Told you so.' She grabbed her trolly and pushed it after them, Harry following. The group stopped and so did they, just near enough to hear what they were saying.

"Now, what's the platform number?" said the boys' mother.

"Nine and three-quarters!" piped a small girl, also red-headed, who was holding her hand, "Mom, can't I go…"

"You're not old enough, Ginny, now be quiet. All right, Percy, you go first."

What looked like the oldest boy marched toward platforms nine and ten. Harry watched, careful not to blink in case he missed it, Alicia's expression set in concentration — but just as the boy reached the dividing barrier between the two platforms, a large crowd of tourists came swarming in front of them and by the time the last backpack had cleared away, the boy had vanished.

Alicia's turned ready to snap at them annoyed but the women spoke again, stopping her.

"Fred, you next," the plump woman said.

"I'm not Fred, I'm George," said the boy. "Honestly, woman, you call yourself our mother? Can't you _tell_ I'm George?"

"Sorry, George, dear."

"Only joking, I am Fred," said the boy, and off he went. His twin called after him to hurry up, and he must have done so, because a second later, he had gone — but how had he done it?

Now the third brother was walking briskly toward the barrier — he was almost there — and then, quite suddenly, he wasn't anywhere.

"I completely missed that," Harry muttered to Alicia.

"It was like he went through the wall…" Alicia said in a nod, agreeing. Harry looked at them, only the last boy and his mother and sister left and took a deep breath.

"Excuse me," Harry said to the plump woman.  
"Hello, dear," she said.

"Could you give us a hand?" Alicia wondered with a smile

"First time at Hogwarts? Ron's new, too." She pointed at the last and youngest of her sons. He was tall, thin, and gangling, with freckles, big hands and feet, and a long nose.

"Yes," said Harry. "The thing is — the thing is, I don't know how to —"

"How to get onto the platform?" she said kindly, Alicia and Harry nodded.

"Not to worry," she said. "All you have to do is walk straight at the barrier between platforms nine and ten. Don't stop and don't be scared you'll crash into it, that's very important. Best do it at a bit of a run if you're nervous. Go on, go now before Ron."

"Er — okay," said Harry. He seemed nervous.

"I'll go first." Alicia decided and she pushed the trolly forwards before Harry could, she didn't run at the barrier but she did walk fast, not taking her eyes off of it.

Alicia walked straight through the barrier as though it wasn't even there. Before her was a scarlet steam engine waiting next to a platform packed with people. A sign overhead said Hogwarts Express, eleven o'clock.

Alicia's mouth was hanging open as she turned behind her and saw a wrought-iron archway with the words _Platform Nine and Three-Quarters_ on it.

Remembering the two on the other side still needed to come through she quickly moved out of the way. Within the next minute, Harry came through with his eyes clamped shut.

"Harry, you can open your eyes." Alicia smiled, he did and looked at the scarlet steam engine and turned to look at the archway.

Smoke from the engine drifted over the heads of the chattering crowd, while cats of every colour wound here and there between their legs. Owls hooted to one another in a disgruntled sort of way over the babble and the scraping of heavy trunks.

"Come on!" Alicia grinned and moved off to the train.

The first few carriages were already packed with students, some hanging out of the window to talk to their families, some fighting over seats. Harry pushed his cart off down the platform after Alicia in search of an empty seat. He passed a round-faced boy who was saying, "Gran, I've lost my toad again."

"Oh, _Neville,_ " he heard the old woman sigh.  
A boy with dreadlocks was surrounded by a small crowd.  
"Give us a look, Lee, go on."  
The boy lifted the lid of a box in his arms, and the people around him shrieked and yelled as something inside poked out a long, hairy leg.

Alicia grinned as she looked at everyone before Harry pulled on her top. He'd spotted an empty compartment near the end of the train. He put Hedwig and Noel inside first as Alicia began to try and follow with one of the trunks. Harry came back to help, starting to shove and heave his trunk toward the train door. They tried to lift it up the steps but could hardly raise it off the ground.

"God yours seems so much heavier then mine." Alicia muttered. Twice Harry dropped the trunk painfully on his foot and Alicia kept jumping out of the way when it slipped from his hand.

"Want a hand?" It was one of the red-haired twins he'd followed through the barrier.

"Yes, please," Harry and Alicia panted.

"Oy, Fred! C'mere and help!"

With the twins' help, both Harry and Alicia's trunks were at last tucked away in a corner of the compartment.

"Thanks," said Harry, pushing his sweaty hair out of his eyes.

"Yeah, probably couldn't have done it without you." Alicia smiled

"What's that?" said one of the twins suddenly, pointing at Harry's lightning scar.

"Blimey," said the other twin. "Are you — ?"

"He _is,_ " said the first twin. "Aren't you?" he added to Harry.

"What?" said Harry.

" _Harry Potter,_ " chorused the twins.

"Oh, him," said Harry. "I mean, yes, I am."

The two boys gawked at him, and Harry felt himself turning red. Then, to his relief, a voice came floating in through the train's open door.

"Fred? George? Are you there?"

"Coming, Mom."

With a last look at Harry, the twins hopped off the train.

"I feel like you should get used to that, at least for this year." Alicia sighed

"You haven't done it,"

"I didn't know, remember. You told me." Alicia muttered

Harry sat down next to the window, Alicia opposite him, where, half hidden, he could watch the red-haired family on the platform and hear what they were saying. Their mother had just taken out her handkerchief.

"Ron, you've got something on your nose."

The youngest boy tried to jerk out of the way, but she grabbed him and began rubbing the end of his nose.

" _Mom_ — geroff." He wriggled free.

"Aaah, has ickle Ronnie got somefink on his nosie?" said one of the twins.

"Shut up," said Ron.

"Where's Percy?" said their mother.

"He's coming now."

The oldest boy came striding into sight. He had already changed into his billowing black Hogwarts robes, and both eleven year olds noticed a shiny red and gold badge on his chest with the letter _P_ on it.

"Can't stay long, Mother," he said. "I'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves —"

"Oh, are you a _prefect,_ Percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "You should have said something, we had no idea."

"Hang on, I think I remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "Once —"

"Or twice —"

"A minute —"

"All summer —"

"Oh, shut up," said Percy the Prefect.

Alicia chuckled, she liked these twins already.

"How come Percy gets new robes, anyway?" said one of the twins.

"Because he's a _prefect,_ " said their mother fondly. "All right, dear, well, have a good term — send me an owl when you get there." She kissed Percy on the cheek and he left. Then she turned to the twins.

"Now, you two — this year, you behave yourselves. If I get one more owl telling me you've — you've blown up a toilet or —"

"Blown up a toilet? We've never blown up a toilet."

"Great idea though, thanks, Mom." Alicia chuckled some more and even Harry cracked a smile.

"It's _not funny._ And look after Ron."

"Don't worry, ickle Ronniekins is safe with us."

"Shut up," said Ron again. He was almost as tall as the twins already and his nose was still pink where his mother had rubbed it.

"Hey, Mom, guess what? Guess who we just met on the train?"

Harry leaned back quickly so they couldn't see him looking, Alicia raised an eyebrow but didn't question him.

"You know that black-haired boy who was near us in the station? Know who he is?"

"Who?"

" _Harry Potter_!"

The little girl piped up excitedly.

"Oh, Mom, can I go on the train and see him, Mom, oh please…"

"You've already seen him, Ginny, and the poor boy isn't something you goggle at in a zoo. Is he really, Fred? How do you know?"

"Asked him. Saw his scar. It's really there — like lightning."

"What about the girl?"

"A friend of his." One twin shrugged

"Didn't ask." said the other

"They looked oddly alike though." they both nodded.

"Poor _dears_ — no wonder they were alone, I wondered. Both were ever so polite when they asked how to get onto the platform."

"Never mind that, do you think he remembers what You-Know-Who looks like?"

Their mother suddenly became very stern.

"I forbid you to ask him, Fred. No, don't you dare. As though he needs reminding of that on his first day at school."

"All right, keep your hair on."

A whistle sounded.

"Hurry up!" their mother said, and the three boys clambered onto the train. They leaned out of the window for her to kiss them good-bye, and their younger sister began to cry.

"Don't, Ginny, we'll send you loads of owls."

"We'll send you a Hogwarts toilet seat."

" _George_!"

"Only joking, Mom."

The train began to move. Harry saw the boys' mother waving and their sister, half laughing, half crying, running to keep up with the train until it gathered too much speed, then she fell back and waved.

"Told you there had to be nice people too." Alicia said, nudging him with her foot. Harry smiled and nodded as he watched the girl and her mother disappear as the train rounded the corner.

Houses flashed past the window. Harry felt a great leap of excitement. Alicia became giddy.

"Oh my god we're leaving! We're actually going!" she squealed, placing her hands on Harry's knees and shaking him. "I can't wait to get there! I wish I know how long it took." she said quickly. Harry smiled at her, understanding the excitement as the door of the compartment slid open and the youngest red-headed boy came in.

"Anyone sitting there?" he asked, pointing at the seat next to Alicia. "Everywhere else is full."

"No of course not." Alicia smiled as Harry shook his head. The boy sat down beside Alicia and he glanced at Harry. However, he looked quickly out of the window, pretending he hadn't looked. Harry saw he still had a black mark on his nose.

"Hey, Ron."

The twins were back.

"Listen, we're going down the middle of the train — Lee Jordan's got a giant tarantula down there."

"Right," mumbled Ron.

"Harry," said the other twin, "did we introduce ourselves?"

"No." Alicia shook her head.

"Fred and George Weasley. And this is Ron, our brother."

"Pleasure to meet Hogwarts pranksters. Does being on your good side mean we wont be on the receiving end?" Alicia wondered

"How do you know we're pranksters?" Fred asked, but with a grin.

"Why else would you want to blow up a toilet?" she asked grinning.

"Such a good idea." George nodded "Who are you?"

"Alicia Evans." she saluted

"Nice to meet you." they chorused

"See you later, then."

"Bye," said the three. The twins slid the compartment door shut behind them.

"Are you really Harry Potter?" Ron blurted out.

Alicia chuckled as Harry nodded.

"Oh — well, I thought it might be one of Fred and George's jokes," said Ron. "And have you really got — you know…"

He pointed at Harry's forehead.

Harry pulled back his bangs to show the lightning scar. Ron stared.

"So that's where You-Know-Who — ?"

"Yes," said Harry, "but I can't remember it."

"Nothing?" said Ron eagerly.

"Well — I remember a lot of green light, but nothing else."

"Wow," said Ron. He sat and stared at Harry for a few moments, then, as though he had suddenly realised what he was doing, he looked quickly out of the window again.

"Are all your family wizards?" asked Harry, who found Ron just as interesting as Ron found him.

"Er — yes, I think so," said Ron. "I think Mom's got a second cousin who's an accountant, but we never talk about him."

"So you must know loads of magic already."

"Or at least what you can do with it." Alicia said

The Weasleys were clearly one of those old wizarding families the pale boy in Diagon Alley had talked about.

"I heard you went to live with Muggles," said Ron. "What are they like?"

"Horrible — well, not all of them. My aunt and uncle and cousin are, though. Alicia's family was nice."

"Are you from Muggles too?" Ron asked

"I live in an orphanage, which is a place for parentless kids to live until they come of age. My parents died when I was a baby, I never met them." she shrugged "I was very surprised to get my letter, but even more surprised when Harry turned up at the Leaky Cauldron." she smirked. Harry nodded in agreement

"How long have you known one another?" Ron asked surprised

"Couple of months. And I worn you, if you're interested in Muggles, do not go to Harry's family as an example." she rolled her eyes annoyed

"Wish I'd had three wizard brothers." Harry nodded

"Five," said Ron. For some reason, he was looking gloomy. "I'm the sixth in our family to go to Hogwarts. You could say I've got a lot to live up to. Bill and Charlie have already left — Bill was head boy and Charlie was captain of Quidditch. Now Percy's a prefect. Fred and George mess around a lot, but they still get really good marks and everyone thinks they're really funny. Everyone expects me to do as well as the others, but if I do, it's no big deal, because they did it first. You never get anything new, either, with five brothers. I've got Bill's old robes, Charlie's old wand, and Percy's old rat."

"I guess the expectations would be hard." Alice nodded. Ron nodded as he reached inside his jacket and pulled out a fat grey rat, which was asleep.

"His name's Scabbers and he's useless, he hardly ever wakes up. Percy got an owl from my dad for being made a prefect, but they couldn't aff— I mean, I got Scabbers instead."

Ron's ears went pink. He seemed to think he'd said too much, because he went back to staring out of the window.

Alicia frowned and shared a look with Harry, apparently he was embarrassed by this. Having never had much themselves, Harry and Alicia didn't think there was anything wrong with not being able to afford an owl. Harry brought this up to Ron, reminded him of Dudley's old clothes, Alicia adding in the part about the cupboard under the stairs. This seemed to cheer Ron up.

"… and until Hagrid told me, I didn't know anything about being a wizard or about my parents or Voldemort —"

Ron gasped.

"What?" asked Alicia and Harry.

" _You said You-Know-Who's name_!" said Ron, sounding both shocked and impressed.

"It's just a name." Alicia shrugged

"I'd have thought you, of all people —"

"I'm not trying to be _brave_ or anything, saying the name," said Harry, "I just never knew you shouldn't. See what I mean? I've got loads to learn… I bet," he added, voicing for the first time something that had been worrying him a lot lately, "I bet I'm the worst in the class."

"You won't be. There's loads of people who come from Muggle families and they learn quick enough."

"Even so, books can only teach us so much, I was trying to catch up so I don't feel as left out."

"She has more books then needed." Harry pointed and Alicia sent him a scowl

"Sorry for not wanting to be left out."

"You're not a book nut are you?" Ron seemed to grimace somewhat

"I enjoy books, but I can put them down." she assured "Like now." she raised her hands to emphasis this.

While they had been talking, the train had carried them out of London. Now they were speeding past fields full of cows and sheep. They were quiet for a time, watching the fields and lanes flick past.

Around half past twelve there was a great clattering outside in the corridor and a smiling, dimpled woman slid back their door and said, "Anything off the cart, dears?"

Both Alicia and Harry, who hadn't had any breakfast, leapt to their feet, but Ron's ears went pink again and he muttered that he'd brought sandwiches.

"This just keeps getting better!" Alicia beamed as they entered the corridor.

Both Harry and Alicia were surprised however when they found out what was on the trolly. They didn't have jelly beans, or mars bars, or ordinary chocolate. What she did have were Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate Frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron Cakes, Liquorice Wands, and a number of other strange things neither had ever seen in their lives.

"How about we split the cost and buy a little of everything." Alicia said as she eyed the trolly. Harry nodded also not wanting to miss anything. They paid the woman eleven silver Sickles and seven bronze Knuts.

Ron stared as the two brought it all back in to the compartment and tipped it onto an empty seat.

"Hungry, are you?"

"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.

"Have never tried any of it before." Alicia muttered, she bit a Cauldron cake.

Ron had taken out a lumpy package and unwrapped it. There were four sandwiches inside. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."

"Swap you for one of these," said Harry, holding up a pasty. "Go on —"

"You don't want this, its all dry," said Ron. "She hasn't got much time," he added quickly, "you know, with five of us."

"Are you turning a down a pumpkin pastie?" Alicia asked, her eyebrow cocked.

"Go on, have a pasty," said Harry.

"We have enough Ron, please." Alicia asked, she looked at Harry who looked hopeful.

Of course Ron didn't argue, and his sandwiches were put to the side and further forgotten.

"What are these?" Harry asked Ron, holding up a pack of Chocolate Frogs. "They're not _really_ frogs, are they?" He was starting to feel that nothing would surprise him.

"No," said Ron. "But see what the card is. I'm missing Agrippa."

"What?"

"Card?" Alicia asked as she had opened a box of every flavoured beans. She had just put a bean in her mouth and her face twisted at the disgusting taste. "Oh gross." she muttered  
"Oh, of course, you wouldn't know." Ron realised "Chocolate Frogs have cards inside them, you know, to collect — famous witches and wizards. I've got about five hundred, but I haven't got Agrippa or Ptolemy."

"Well who have you got Harry?" Alicia asked, taking a swig of her water bottle she'd brought.

Harry unwrapped his Chocolate Frog and picked up the card. It showed a man's face. He wore half-moon glasses, had a long, crooked nose, and flowing silver hair, beard, and moustache.

"That's Dumbledore." Alicia pointed

"How do you know?" Harry asked

"Cause he's the one who came and gave me my letter." she smiled. Underneath the picture was the name Albus Dumbledore.

"It is Dumbledore!" said Harry.

"Don't tell me you'd never heard of Dumbledore!" said Ron. "Can I have a frog? I might get Agrippa — thanks —"

Harry turned over his card and Alicia stood up to read it also, though reading the words upside down:

ALBUS DUMBLEDORE

Currently Headmaster of Hogwarts

Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling.

Harry turned the card back over and saw, to his astonishment, that Dumbledore's face had disappeared.

"He's gone!" Alicia gapped at the empty frame

"Well, you can't expect him to hang around all day," said Ron.

"What do you mean?" Alicia asked. Ron looked confused by the question.

"In the muggle world, you take a picture they don't leave the frame." Alicia explained. Ron looked at her like she was the weird one. "Yeah. So what happened to him?"

"He went to another picture." Ron answered through his mouthful. Alicia looked at him surprised "He'll be back. No, I've got Morgana again and I've got about six of her… do you want it? You can start collecting."

Ron's eyes strayed to the pile of Chocolate Frogs waiting to be unwrapped. Alicia smirked

"Help yourself," said Harry. "But in, you know, the Muggle world, people just stay put in photos."

"Do they? What, they don't move at all?" Ron sounded amazed. Alicia shook her head. " _Weird_!" Alicia couldn't help but laugh.

"God it's like we're from two different planets." she admitted

Harry stared as Dumbledore slid back into the picture on his card and gave him a small smile. Ron was more interested in eating the frogs than looking at the Famous Witches and Wizards cards, but Harry couldn't keep his eyes off them. Soon he had not only Dumbledore and Morgana, but Hengist of Woodcraft, Alberic Grunnion, Circe, Paracelsus, and Merlin. Alicia took a look at every one of them to find out more about famous witch or wizards before giving the cards to Harry. Harry finally tore his eyes away from the druidess Cliodna, who was scratching her nose, to open a bag of Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans.

"You want to be careful with those," Ron warned Harry. "When they say every flavour, they _mean_ every flavour — you know, you get all the ordinary ones like chocolate and peppermint and marmalade, but then you can get spinach and liver and tripe. George reckons he had a booger-flavoured one once."

"I had a salt one." Alicia muttered, eying her box.

Ron picked up a green bean, looked at it carefully, and bit into a corner.

"Bleaaargh — see? Sprouts."

They had a good time eating the Every Flavour Beans. Harry got toast, coconut, baked bean, strawberry, curry, grass, coffee, sardine, and was even brave enough to nibble the end off a funny grey one Ron wouldn't touch, which turned out to be pepper.

Alicia was much more daring and ate any one the boys wouldn't. She had very many gross ones and quite a few okay ones.

The countryside now flying past the window was becoming wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers, and dark green hills.

There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy who had lost his toad on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.

"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?" When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"

"He'll turn up," said Harry.  
"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him…"

"We'll come find you." Alicia smiled  
He left.  
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. Mind you, I brought Scabbers, so I can't talk."

The rat was still snoozing on Ron's lap.

"At least you don't have to worry about him running away." Alicia shrugged

"True." he looked down at the animal "He might have died and you wouldn't know the difference," said Ron in disgust. "I tried to turn him yellow yesterday to make him more interesting, but the spell didn't work. I'll show you, look…" He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.

"Unicorn hair's nearly poking out. Anyway —"

He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open again. The toadless boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.

"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair, and rather large front teeth.

"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand.

"Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback.

"Er — all right."

He cleared his throat.

 _"Sunshine, daisies, butter mellow, Turn this stupid, fat rat yellow."_

He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.

"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the very best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard — I've learned all our course books by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough — I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast.

Alicia raised her eyebrows and thought one thing _I'm not like that am I?_ she made a mental note to ask the second Hermione left.

Harry looked at Ron, and was relieved to see by his stunned face that he hadn't learned all the course books by heart either.

"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered.

"Alicia Evans."

"Harry Potter," said Harry.

"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course — I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in _Modern Magical History_ and _The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts_ and _Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century._ "

"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed.

"Yeah they've got your whole story in there." Alicia nodded, Harry looked at her surprised

"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what House you'll be in? I've been asking around, and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, it sounds by far the best; I hear Dumbledore himself was in it, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad… Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You three had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon."

And she left, taking the toadless boy with her.

"I'm not like that am I?" Alicia asked immediately

"No." Harry shook his head

"Why?"

"Well I've read our books quite a few times and I know most of them by heart, a few things here and there, I tried a few spells and they worked also. I also got the extra books for the sake of it." Alicia shrugged "I agree with finding out as much as possible, but that…" she trailed off "That was brag brag brag and she spoke so fast and for a muggle born seems to be rather confident. Even I don't feel that good." she muttered looking worried

"No, you're not nearly as bad as that." Ron assured

"Thank god, I can see her getting on a few peoples nerves." she muttered looking at the door

"Try a lot of peoples nerves." Ron disagreed "Whatever House I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. He threw his wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell — George gave it to me, bet he knew it was a dud."

"What House are your brothers in?" asked Harry.

"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I don't suppose Ravenclaw _would_ be too bad, but imagine if they put me in Slytherin."

"That's the House Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?"

"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed.

"So Slytherin's for the bad guys, Hufflepuffs the doughnuts… What's Gryffindor and Ravenclaw?"

"Gryffindor's for the brave and courageous and Ravenclaws for the smart ones." Ron answered with a sigh.

"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off Houses. "So what do your oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?"

Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school.

"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about Gringotts? Its been all over the _Daily Prophet,_ but I don't suppose you get that with the Muggles — someone tried to rob a high security vault."

Harry stared.

"What?" Alicia said "Hagrid said you'd be stupid to try though?"

"It is." Ron nodded

"Really? What happened to them?"

"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case You-Know-Who's behind it."

"Even though he hasn't been around for what… ten, eleven years?" Alicia wondered. Ron nodded, but didn't seem to dwell on the news as he quickly moved on.

"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked.

"Er — I don't know any," Harry confessed.

"We've never seen it before." Alicia admitted, glad to be on the subject "I read a book on it, but it's not the same."

"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the world —" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the money. Alicia listened excitedly, thinking it sounded fascinating. He was just taking the two through the finer points of the game when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time.

Three boys entered, and Harry and Alicia recognised the middle one at once: It was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley.

"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"

"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.

"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking. "And my names Malfoy, Draco Malfoy."

Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him.

"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than they can afford."

Alicia's eyes narrowed dangerously.

He turned back to Harry.

"You'll soon find out some wizarding families are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends with the wrong sort. I can help you there."

He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it.

"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said coolly.

Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale cheeks.

"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you."

Both Harry and Ron stood up.

"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair.

"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered.

"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron.

"But we don't feel like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food and you still seem to have some."

Alicia moved to the front and crossed her arms.

"How about a bit of advice, Draco. If you want to be friends with someone as ' _famous'_ as Harry Potter, don't start by insulting those around him." she said slowly, her voice low.

"And who are you?" Draco said

"Alicia Evans." she said simply "Now please leave." she smiled "Or I will make you." Draco smirked

"And how?" he questioned not believing her.

Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron — Ron leapt forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a horrible yell.

Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk deep into Goyle's knuckle — Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbers finally flew off and hit the window. Alicia smiled at the commotion and raised her wand, which she'd had on her since she bought it, too excited to leave it around. The three boys seemed smug, as though not believing she could do anything.

"You going to try and hit me?" Malfoy said

"Not try." she smiled. She flicked her wand, muttered something under her voice and the three boys went flying into the back wall of the corridor, out of the compartment. Alicia beamed that it'd worked.

"What was that?" the two boys asked

"A banishing spell. It's supposed to be for at least third years, I read it in one of my extra charms books. I'd only tried it on little objects before." she was ecstatic as the three of them disappeared at once.

"Yeah, but you haven't been taught anything," Harry reminded her

"I can read a book and flick a wand." she shrugged "Plus, remember before we got the letters?" she prompted as she looked down after the three running boys. Alicia had hoped it was because of her that they ran, but a second later, Hermione Granger had come in.

"What _has_ been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail. Alicia had sat back down, her wand close to her side. She didn't want a scolding from a girl no older then she was.

"Nothing, just a couple of bullies." she shrugged "It's over now so don't worry."

"I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at Scabbers. "No — I don't believe it — he's gone back to sleep." Alicia bursted into laughter.

"You've met Malfoy before?"

Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley.

"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to Hermione. "Can we help you with something?"

"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!"

"No." Alicia shrugged, trying to hide her grin.

"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would you mind leaving while we change?"

"All right — I only came in here because people outside are behaving very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a sniffy voice. "And you've got dirt on your nose, by the way, did you know?"

Ron glared at her as she left. Harry peered out of the window. It was getting dark. He could see mountains and forests under a deep purple sky. The train did seem to be slowing down.

"I'll leave you be and go get changed." Alicia grabbed her robes and moved out of the compartment and towards a set of changing rooms.

She patted the robes down and admired them with a smile, the excitement returning before she moved back to the compartment, knocking first.

A voice echoed through the train: "We will be reaching Hogwarts in five minutes' time. Please leave your luggage on the train, it will be taken to the school separately."

Harry's stomach lurched with nerves and Ron, he saw, looked pale under his freckles. Alicia, seeing them both gave them reassurance but it didn't seem to help. They crammed their pockets with the last of the sweets, Alicia allowing them to take her share, and joined the crowd thronging the corridor.

The train slowed right down and finally stopped. People pushed their way toward the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. It was rather cold in the night air compared to the warmth of the train.

A lamp came bobbing over the heads of the students, and they heard a familiar voice: "Firs' years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry? Alicia?"

Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.

"Hagrid." Alicia beamed.

"C'mon, follow me — any more firs' years? Mind yer step, now! Firs' years follow me!"

Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was dark on either side of them as though they were walking through a tunnel. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.

"Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!"

The narrow path had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

Alicia was almost skipping with excitement, grabbing to Harry and Ron to stop from slipping as her attempts to calm down failed.

"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry, Alicia and Ron all filed into a boat together and as soon as she sat down Alicia's eyes were back on the giant castle before them.

"Everyone in?" shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself. "Right then — FORWARD!"

And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.

"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rock after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last onto smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle.

They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge, oak front door.

"Everyone here? You there, still got yer toad?"

Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

The door swung open at once. A tall, black-haired witch in emerald-green robes stood there. She had a very stern face and Harry's first thought was that this was not someone to cross.

"That's Professor McGonagall." Alicia whispered "She took me to the Leaky Cauldron."

"Have you met all the teachers already?" Ron asked

"Only two and Hagrid." Alicia smiled

"The firs' years, Professor McGonagall," said Hagrid.

"Thank you, Hagrid. I will take them from here."

She pulled the door wide. The entrance hall was so huge! The entire orphanage would have fit. The stone walls were lit with flaming torches like the ones at Gringotts, the ceiling was too high to make out, and a magnificent marble staircase facing them led to the upper floors.

They followed Professor McGonagall across the flagged stone floor. A drone of hundreds of voices from a doorway to the right — the rest of the school must already be here — but Professor McGonagall showed the first years into a small, empty chamber off the hall. They crowded in, standing rather closer together than they would usually have done, peering about nervously. Except for Alicia who couldn't wait to get started.

"Welcome to Hogwarts," said Professor McGonagall. "The start-of-term banquet will begin shortly, but before you take your seats in the Great Hall, you will be sorted into your Houses. The Sorting is a very important ceremony because, while you are here, your House will be something like your family within Hogwarts. You will have classes with the rest of your House, sleep in your House dormitory, and spend free time in your House common room.

"The four Houses are called Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin. Each House has its own noble history and each has produced outstanding witches and wizards. While you are at Hogwarts, your triumphs will earn your House points, while any rule-breaking will lose House points. At the end of the year, the House with the most points is awarded the House cup, a great honour. I hope each of you will be a credit to whichever House becomes yours.

"The Sorting Ceremony will take place in a few minutes in front of the rest of the school. I suggest you all smarten yourselves up as much as you can while you are waiting."

Her eyes lingered for a moment on Neville's cloak, which was fastened under his left ear, and on Ron's smudged nose. Harry nervously tried to flatten his hair.

"I shall return when we are ready for you," said Professor McGonagall. "Please wait quietly."

She left the chamber. Harry swallowed.

"How exactly do they sort us into Houses?" he asked Ron.

"Some sort of test, I think. Fred said it hurts a lot, but I think he was joking."

"I was going to say, I don't believe that." Alicia said and she grabbed the corner of Ron's sleeve. "Can I get rid of this smudge now?" she asked and quickly wiped Ron's nose. It was gone and she smiled.

"You're like my mother…" he muttered

"From what I saw your mother couldn't get close enough to remove it." Alicia muttered. She looked at Harry who seemed to be paling by the second.

"Harry?"

"A test?" he asked. Alicia rolled her eyes

"Come on. We're first years, they cannot expect you to do some giant ass test in front of the school just to get your house." she believed "I bet it's actually easy."

"Yeah you read the books." Ron said

"So did Harry." Alicia pointed "Just think of it this way, you're entire family had to do this and if they can, why can't you?" she asked. Ron seemed to think about that for a minute.

A few were listening to her as they looked just as terrified as Harry had. No one was talking much except Hermione Granger, who was whispering very fast about all the spells she'd learned and wondering which one she'd need.

Alicia sighed, she was trying not to be nervous and believe her own words but they were making it hard. Some extravagant test seemed ridiculous to give students who'd never owned a wand before. She just turned to the wall but stopped halfway and jumped, Harry beside her did the same. Several people behind them screamed.

"What the — ?"

Many people gasped as about twenty ghosts had just streamed through the back wall. Pearly-white and slightly transparent, they glided across the room talking to one another and hardly glancing at the first years. They seemed to be arguing. What looked like a fat little monk was saying: "Forgive and forget, I say, we ought to give him a second chance —"

"My dear Friar, haven't we given Peeves all the chances he deserves? He gives us all a bad name and you know, he's not really even a ghost — I say, what are you all doing here?" A ghost wearing a ruff and tights had suddenly noticed the first years.

Alicia gapped at them. Ghosts hadn't been expected, they weren't in any of her books…

"First years," Alicia managed to say pointing to herself, she was still surprised there was a ghost before her.

"New students!" said the Fat Friar, smiling around at them. "About to be Sorted, I suppose?"

A few people nodded mutely.

"Hope to see you in Hufflepuff!" said the Friar. "My old House, you know."

"Move along now," said a sharp voice. "The Sorting Ceremony's about to start."

Professor McGonagall had returned. One by one, the ghosts floated away through the opposite wall.

"Now, form a line," Professor McGonagall told the first years, "and follow me."

Feeling oddly as though his legs had turned to lead, Harry got into line behind a boy with sandy hair, with Ron and Alicia behind him. Alicia placed her hands on Harry's shoulder to support him and they walked out of the chamber, back across the hall, and through a pair of double doors into the Great Hall.

Alicia's jaw was going to end up permanently opened as she looked over the room. It was such a strange and splendid place. It was lit by thousands and thousands of candles that were floating in midair over four long tables, where the rest of the students were sitting. These tables were laid with glittering golden plates and goblets. At the top of the hall was another long table where the teachers were sitting. Professor McGonagall led the first years up here, so that they came to a halt in a line facing the other students, with the teachers behind them. The hundreds of faces staring at them looked like pale lanterns in the flickering candlelight. Dotted here and there among the students, the ghosts shone misty silver.

Alicia's gaze was stolen by the celling, it was velvety black and dotted with stars.

"It's bewitched." Alicia muttered to Harry who was also staring. "It's the sky outside." she smiled. The great hall was so tall it didn't seem like a celling existed at all.

Her gaze was brought back down as Professor McGonagall silently placed a four-legged stool in front of the first years. On top of the stool she put a pointed wizard's hat. This hat was patched and frayed and extremely dirty.

Alicia looked at it confused, her eyebrows furrowed as everyone else in the hall was now staring at the hat. For a few seconds, there was complete silence. Then the hat twitched. A rip near the brim opened wide like a mouth — and the hat began to sing:

 _"Oh, you may not think I'm pretty,_

 _But don't judge on what you see,_

 _I'll eat myself if you can find_

 _A smarter hat than me._

 _You can keep your bowlers black,_

 _Your top hats sleek and tall,_

 _For I'm the Hogwarts Sorting Hat_

 _And I can cap them all._

 _There's nothing hidden in your head_

 _The Sorting Hat can't see,_

 _So try me on and I will tell you_

 _Where you ought to be._

 _You might belong in Gryffindor,_

 _Where dwell the brave at heart,_

 _Their daring, nerve, and chivalry_

 _Set Gryffindors apart;_

 _You might belong in Hufflepuff,_

 _Where they are just and loyal,_

 _Those patient Hufflepuffs are true_

 _And unafraid of toil;_

 _Or yet in wise old Ravenclaw,_

 _If you've a ready mind,_

 _Where those of wit and learning,_

 _Will always find their kind;_

 _Or perhaps in Slytherin_

 _You'll make your real friends,_

 _Those cunning folk use any means_

 _To achieve their ends._

 _So put me on! Don't be afraid!_

 _And don't get in a flap!_

 _You're in safe hands (though I have none)_

 _For I'm a Thinking Cap!"_

The whole hall burst into applause as the hat finished its song, Alicia with them, she was marvelled by a talking, singing hat. It bowed to each of the four tables and then became quite still again.

"So we've just got to try on the hat!" Ron whispered to Harry. "I'll kill Fred, he was going on about wrestling a troll."

"Told you it would be easy." Alicia smiled

"Alright know-it-all." Ron answered

"That's Hermione, not me." Alicia said ever so softly and Ron smirked slightly.

Harry smiled weakly. He felt better about trying on the hat then doing a spell.

Professor McGonagall now stepped forward holding a long roll of parchment.

"When I call your name, you will put on the hat and sit on the stool to be sorted," she said. "Abbott, Hannah!"

A pink-faced girl with blonde pigtails stumbled out of line, put on the hat, which fell right down over her eyes, and sat down. A moment's pause —

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat.

The table on the right cheered and clapped as Hannah went to sit down at the Hufflepuff table. The ghost of the Fat Friar waved merrily at her.

"Bones, Susan!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!" shouted the hat again, and Susan scuttled off to sit next to Hannah.

"Boot, Terry!"  
"RAVENCLAW!"  
The table second from the left clapped this time; several Ravenclaws stood up to shake hands with Terry as he joined them.

"Brocklehurst, Mandy" went to Ravenclaw too, but "Brown, Lavender" became the first new Gryffindor, and the table on the far left exploded with cheers; Harry could see Ron's twin brothers catcalling.

"Bulstrode, Millicent" then became a Slytherin. They did look like an unpleasant lot.

"Evans, Alicia!" Alicia's heart seemed to stop for a minute and she walked forwards and sat on the stool. The hat covered her eyes and she was glad she couldn't see everyone watching her.

"Another Evans hey?" a voice whispered in her ear "I remembered your mother, very bright, Ravenclaw would have suited her. Just as it would you, look at all this knowledge, and plenty of thirst and room for more… then again, like your mother, the bravery and courage stands out, caring for those around you… what a difficult decision." the hat muttered

"Then again with all those Ravenclaws, they could limit the potential stored here, ready to explode and the greatness stored, lots of talent may not be suited… well then, on that note, it better be — GRYFFINDOR!" the hat shouted and the table exploded again as the hat was removed. Alicia beamed and immediately moved to sit down on the table. The Weasley twins both pounded her waiting fists with a cheer and she shook Percy's hand along with many others at the table.

She sat down and turned excitedly to the rest of the first years, Harry was watching her and she gave him the thumbs up.

"Finch-Fletchley, Justin!"

"HUFFLEPUFF!"

Sometimes the hat shouted out the House at once, but at others it took a little while to decide.

"Finnigan, Seamus," the sandy-haired boy next to Harry in the line, sat on the stool for almost a whole minute before the hat declared him a Gryffindor.

"Granger, Hermione!"

Hermione almost ran to the stool and jammed the hat eagerly on her head.

"GRYFFINDOR!" shouted the hat. Ron groaned and Alicia watched as Hermione moved to sit opposite her.

When Neville Longbottom, the boy who kept losing his toad, was called, he fell over on his way to the stool. The hat took a long time to decide with Neville. When it finally shouted, "GRYFFINDOR," Neville ran off still wearing it, and had to jog back amid gales of laughter to give it to

"MacDougal, Morag."

Malfoy swaggered forward when his name was called and got his wish at once: the hat had barely touched his head when it screamed, "SLYTHERIN!"

Malfoy went to join his friends Crabbe and Goyle, looking pleased with himself.

There weren't many people left now.

"Moon"… , "Nott"… , "Parkinson"… , then a pair of twin girls, "Patil" and "Patil"… , then "Perks, Sally-Anne"… , and then, at last —

"Potter, Harry!"

As Harry stepped forward, whispers suddenly broke out like little hissing fires all over the hall. Alicia looked around at them all before turning back to Harry, waiting.

" _Potter,_ did she say?"

" _The_ Harry Potter?"

The last thing Harry saw before the hat dropped over his eyes was the hall full of people craning to get a good look at him.

The hat sat on his head and the longer they waited the more nervous Alicia felt before the house shouted "GRYFFINDOR!"

Alicia jumped out of her seat clapping her hands, the rest of the Gryffindors immediately followed her lead as Harry took off the hat and walked shakily toward the Gryffindor table.

Alicia pulled him into a hug and he moved to sit beside her as Percy the Prefect got up and shook his hand vigorously, while the Weasley twins yelled, "We got Potter! We got Potter!" Harry sat down opposite the ghost in the ruff he'd seen earlier. The ghost patted his arm, and Alicia looked confused by the twisted expression that formed from the action.

Alicia pointed to the table of teachers as Hagrid gave Harry the thumbs up and Alicia grinned, rubbing his back to help with his shaky nervous as they slowly began to diminish.

And now there were only four people left to be sorted. "Thomas, Dean," a Black boy even taller than Ron, joined Harry at the Gryffindor table. "Turpin, Lisa," became a Ravenclaw and then it was Ron's turn. He was pale green by now. Harry and Alicia crossed their fingers under the table and a second later the hat had shouted, "GRYFFINDOR!"

The two clapped loudly with the rest as Ron collapsed into the chair next to Harry.

"Well done, Ron, excellent," said Percy Weasley pompously across Harry and Alicia

"Fantastic!" Alicia cheered, her voice carried around the Great Hall as the cheers had calmed down slightly but she didn't care.

"Zabini, Blaise," was made a Slytherin and Professor McGonagall rolled up her scroll and took the Sorting Hat away.

Alicia looked around expectantly, wondering what was to happen now. Her eye fell on the empty plates before them and wondered when dinner was. Where a dozen people going to walk in and place the food before them like at a fancy restaurant?

Her stomach growled slightly at the thought of dinner, all the excitement had left her starving.

Albus Dumbledore had gotten to his feet. He was beaming at the students, his arms opened wide, as if nothing could have pleased him more than to see them all there.

"Welcome!" he said. "Welcome to a new year at Hogwarts! Before we begin our banquet, I would like to say a few words. And here they are: Nitwit! Blubber! Oddment! Tweak!

"Thank you!"

He sat back down. Everybody clapped and cheered. Harry didn't know whether to laugh or not, Alicia on the other hand had let it out and was laughing her head off.

"Is he — a bit mad?" Harry asked Percy uncertainly.

"Mad?" said Percy airily. Alicia's mouth dropped open again, suddenly every plate on the table was filled to the brim with food. "He's a genius! Best wizard in the world! But he is a bit mad, yes. Potatoes, Harry?"

Harry's mouth fell open and he wore the same expression as Alicia. There were so many varieties that they'd never seen so many things they'd wanted to eat on one table: roast beef, roast chicken, pork chops and lamb chops, sausages, bacon and steak, boiled potatoes, roast potatoes, fries, Yorkshire pudding, peas, carrots, gravy, ketchup, and, for some strange reason, peppermint humbugs.

Alicia grabbed chicken, potatoes, bacon, sausages, Yorkshire puddings and a variety of vegetables as Harry piled his plate with a bit of everything except the peppermints and began to eat. It was all delicious.

"That does look good," said the ghost in the ruff sadly, watching Harry cut up his steak.

"Can't you — ?"

"I haven't eaten for nearly five hundred years," said the ghost. "I don't need to, of course, but one does miss it. I don't think I've introduced myself? Sir Nicholas de Mimsy-Porpington at your service. Resident ghost of Gryffindor Tower."

"I know who you are!" said Ron suddenly. "My brothers told me about you — you're Nearly Headless Nick!"

"I would _prefer_ you to call me Sir Nicholas de Mimsy —" the ghost began stiffly, but sandy-haired Seamus Finnigan interrupted.

" _Nearly_ Headless? How can you be _nearly_ headless?"

Sir Nicholas looked extremely miffed, as if their little chat wasn't going at all the way he wanted.

"Like _this,_ " he said irritably. He seized his left ear and pulled. His whole head swung off his neck and fell onto his shoulder as if it was on a hinge. Someone had obviously tried to behead him, but not done it properly. Looking pleased at the stunned looks on their faces, Nearly Headless Nick flipped his head back onto his neck, coughed.

"Is Sir Nicholas alright?" Alicia asked "It is a long name if you don't mind me saying." Ron looked at her slightly surprised by the sudden politeness.

"Of course." Sir Nicholas smiled at her "So — new Gryffindors! I hope you're going to help us win the House Championship this year? Gryffindors have never gone so long without winning. Slytherins have got the cup six years in a row! The Bloody Baron's becoming almost unbearable — he's the Slytherin ghost."

They looked over at the Slytherin table and saw a horrible ghost sitting there, with blank staring eyes, a gaunt face, and robes stained with silver blood. He was right next to Malfoy who, Harry was pleased to see, didn't look too pleased with the seating arrangements. Alicia smirked.

"How did he get covered in blood?" asked Seamus with great interest.

"I've never asked," said Nearly Headless Nick delicately.

"Is it rude to do so?" Alicia wondered

"For some." he nodded.

When everyone had eaten as much as they could, the remains of the food faded from the plates, leaving them sparkling clean as before. Alicia couldn't help but touch one to find her finger without an ounce of the gravy that had been there.

A moment later the desserts appeared. Blocks of ice cream in every flavour you could think of, apple pies, treacle tarts, chocolate éclairs and jam doughnuts, trifle, strawberries, Jell-O, rice pudding…

"I'm going to be fat if this happens every night." Alicia muttered. She grabbed a heap of apple pie, lemon meringue, chocolate eclairs and a bowl full of ice-cream.

"Do you always eat that much?" Hermione asked

"It's our first night, I'm excited, I'm hungry and I want to enjoy it!" Alicia grinned "As for you question… I don't think so but the food's never been this good before." she smiled, placing some apple pie in her mouth.

"I'm half-and-half," said Seamus. "Me dad's a Muggle. Mom didn't tell him she was a witch 'til after they were married. Bit of a nasty shock for him."

The others laughed.

"What about you, Neville?" said Ron.

"Well, my gran brought me up and she's a witch," said Neville, "but the family thought I was all-Muggle for ages. My Great Uncle Algie kept trying to catch me off my guard and force some magic out of me — he pushed me off the end of Blackpool pier once, I nearly drowned."

"That seems a little drastic…" Alicia thought. Neville nodded

"Nothing happened until I was eight. Great Uncle Algie came round for dinner, and he was hanging me out of an upstairs window by the ankles when my Great Auntie Enid offered him a meringue and he accidentally let go. But I bounced — all the way down the garden and into the road. They were all really pleased, Gran was crying, she was so happy. And you should have seen their faces when I got in here — they thought I might not be magic enough to come, you see. Great Uncle Algie was so pleased he bought me my toad."

"What about you Alicia?" Seamus asked

"I don't know, my parents died when I was very young, I've been in an orphanage all my life."

"An orphanage?" Neville asked

"It's a place where parentless kids live until they're of age." Dean answered

"They had to have been magic though because I had a Gringotts vault full of gold." she shrugged, Seamus nodded in agreement.

On Alicia's other side, Percy Weasley and Hermione were talking about lessons

"I _do_ hope they start right away, there's so much to learn, I'm particularly interested in Transfiguration, you know, turning something into something else, of course, it's supposed to be very difficult —"

"You'll be starting small, just matches into needles and that sort of thing —"

"Oh I can't wait for that! But charms really interests me, though potions has me intrigued at the moment also." Alicia suddenly jumped in "I don't even know what I want to do first."

Harry, who was starting to feel warm and sleepy, looked up at the High Table again. Hagrid was drinking deeply from his goblet. Professor McGonagall was talking to Professor Dumbledore. Professor Quirrell, in his absurd turban, was talking to a teacher with greasy black hair, a hooked nose, and sallow skin.

"Ouch!" Harry suddenly clapped a hand to his head. Alicia turned to look at him suddenly

"What is it?" asked Percy.

"N-nothing."

"What's wrong?" Alicia whispered

"My scar hurt." he muttered simply, Alicia looked confused as Harry leaned across her

"Who's that teacher talking to Professor Quirrell?" he asked Percy.

"Oh, you know Quirrell already, do you? No wonder he's looking so nervous, that's Professor Snape. He teaches Potions, but he doesn't want to — everyone knows he's after Quirrell's job. Knows an awful lot about the Dark Arts, Snape."

Alicia turned to look at him as Harry watched Snape for a while, but Snape didn't look at him again.

"What's he like?" Alicia wondered

"Loves the Slytherins, strict and doesn't smile ever." Percy answered

"Like McGonagall?"

"Professor McGonagall doesn't favour at all, Snape likes to pick on certain students and his lessons can be tricky, especially if you're on his bad side." Alicia sighed, there was always one wasn't there.

At last, the desserts too disappeared, and Professor Dumbledore got to his feet again. The hall fell silent.

"Ahem — just a few more words now that we are all fed and watered. I have a few start-of-term notices to give you.

"First years should note that the forest on the grounds is forbidden to all pupils. And a few of our older students would do well to remember that as well."

Dumbledore's twinkling eyes flashed in the direction of the Weasley twins. Alicia smirked and looked at them also, earning a wink of amusement.

"I have also been asked by Mr. Filch, the caretaker, to remind you all that no magic should be used between classes in the corridors.

"Quidditch trials will be held in the second week of the term. Anyone interested in playing for their House teams should contact Madam Hooch.

"And finally, I must tell you that this year, the third-floor corridor on the right-hand side is out of bounds to everyone who does not wish to die a very painful death."

Harry laughed, but he was one of the few who did. Alicia seemed to think he was serious also as she didn't laugh for once.

"He's not serious?" he muttered to Percy.

"Must be," said Percy, frowning at Dumbledore. "It's odd, because he usually gives us a reason why we're not allowed to go somewhere — the forest's full of dangerous beasts, everyone knows that. I do think he might have told us prefects, at least."

Alicia raised an eyebrow, he seemed to think much to highly of his position.

"And now, before we go to bed, let us sing the school song!" cried Dumbledore.

Dumbledore gave his wand a little flick, as if he was trying to get a fly off the end, and a long golden ribbon flew out of it, which rose high above the tables and twisted itself, snakelike, into words.

"Everyone pick their favourite tune," said Dumbledore, "and off we go!"

And the school bellowed:

"Hogwarts, Hogwarts, Hoggy Warty Hogwarts,

Teach us something please,

Whether we be old and bald

Or young with scabby knees,

Our heads could do with filling

With some interesting stuff,

For now they're bare and full of air,

Dead flies and bits of fluff,

So teach us things worth knowing,

Bring back what we've forgot,

Just do your best, we'll do the rest,

And learn until our brains all rot."

Alicia giggled when she'd finished and laughed at the twins, being the last out of the odd times song to finish. They were singing along to a very slow funeral march and Dumbledore conducted their last few lines with his wand and when they had finished, he was one of those who clapped loudest.

"Ah, music," he said, wiping his eyes. "A magic beyond all we do here! And now, bedtime. Off you trot!"

The Gryffindor first years followed Percy through the chattering crowds, out of the Great Hall, and up the marble staircase. Alicia though full and ready for bed, took note of every turn they took and watched the moving pictures all over the walls with ore. She glanced down all the corridors and asked Percy, who seemed happy to answer as it added to his position, a few questions on what was where. She didn't want to get lost.

Suddenly they all came to a stop. A bundle of walking sticks was floating in midair ahead of them, and as Percy took a step toward them they started throwing themselves at him.

"Peeves," Percy whispered to the first years. "A poltergeist." He raised his voice, "Peeves — show yourself."

A loud, rude sound, like the air being let out of a balloon, answered.

"Do you want me to go to the Bloody Baron?"

There was a pop, and a little man with wicked, dark eyes and a wide mouth appeared, floating cross-legged in the air, clutching the walking sticks.

"Oooooooh!" he said, with an evil cackle. "Ickle Firsties! What fun!"

He swooped suddenly at them. They all ducked.

"Go away, Peeves, or the Baron'll hear about this, I mean it!" barked Percy.

Peeves stuck out his tongue and vanished, dropping the walking sticks on Neville's head. They heard him zooming away, rattling coats of armour as he passed.

"You want to watch out for Peeves," said Percy, as they set off again. "The Bloody Baron's the only one who can control him, he won't even listen to us prefects." Alicia couldn't help but roll her eyes "Here we are."

At the very end of the corridor hung a portrait of a very fat woman in a pink silk dress.

"Password?" she said.

"Caput Draconis," said Percy, and the portrait swung forward to reveal a round hole in the wall. They all scrambled through it — Neville needed a leg up — and found themselves in the Gryffindor common room, a cozy, round room full of squashy armchairs.

Alicia grinned and took in the sight, the colours of the walls, the paintings and the chairs as Percy directed the girls through one door to their dormitory and the boys through another. At the top of a spiral staircase — they were obviously in one of the towers — they found their beds at last: four four-posters hung with deep red, velvet curtains. Their trunks had already been brought up.

Alicia scrambled through hers for her pyjamas and pulled them on before flopping onto the bed without worrying about the curtains. Neither Lavender, Pavati or Hermione spoke to her as she crawled under the crips sheets and fell asleep immediately, dreaming of the delicious food and the classes to come, wondering what they may learn or what the secret world was about to teach her.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

Alicia was up early and down in the common room the next morning, fully dressed and ready for breakfast. Hermione was the same, and despite the slight irritancy of her rambling, Alicia asked her if she'd like to have breakfast together.

Hermione was worried on their way down, occasionally glancing around in the middle of her sentence as to where they were, but Alicia was confident on how to get back to the Great Hall, having watched very closely the night before.

There were a hundred and forty-two staircases at Hogwarts: wide, sweeping ones; narrow, rickety ones; some that led somewhere different on a Friday; some with a vanishing step halfway up that you had to remember to jump. Then there were doors that wouldn't open unless you asked politely, or tickled them in exactly the right place, and doors that weren't really doors at all, but solid walls just pretending.

Alicia laughed when she saw someone pulling on a door that was just a wall, and even when it happened to her she still cracked up, amazed that the castle was like a living thing itself. The people in the portraits kept going to visit each other, and it seemed as though the coats of armour could walk.

Alicia found it good to talk to Hermione, though she spoke really fast. Alicia had finally asked her to slow down and not jam everything together. Hermione, though in her own way, was as excited for classes as Alicia. The bushy hair girl as delighted that Alicia had read all the books as well, though she didn't know every bit off by heart like Hermione did.

Breakfast was just as delicious as dinner and Alicia had scrambled eggs, bacon, baked beans and pancakes. That morning Professor McGonagall passed out their timetables and Alicia was bouncing in her seat as she read it.

"History of Magic, I wonder what that's like." she grinned.

It was boring. History of Magic was the only class taught by a ghost. Professor Binns had been very old indeed when he had fallen asleep in front of the staff room fire and got up next morning to teach, leaving his body behind him. Binns droned on and on while they scribbled down names and dates, and got Emeric the Evil and Uric the Oddball mixed up. His voice stayed the same boring monotone and Alicia found it hard not to fall asleep like Ron beside her.

They had to study the night skies through their telescopes every Wednesday at midnight and learn the names of different stars and the movements of the planets. Three times a week they went out to the greenhouses behind the castle to study Herbology, with a dumpy little witch called Professor Sprout, where they learned how to take care of all the strange plants and fungi, and found out what they were used for.

"There, look."

"Where?"

"Next to the tall kid with the red hair."

"With the green eyed girl?"

"Wearing the glasses?"

"Did you see his face?"

"Did you see his scar?"

Alicia found this very distracting, whispers followed Harry everywhere. The second he entered the common room everyone would point and whisper, their eyes following him like a hawk and then they entered the corridors and it just got worse.

"Don't people have anything better to do?" she questioned.

It didn't take long for Harry and Ron to get on the bad side of the Caretaker, Argus Filch. The two had lost Alicia as she led the way to class and ended up lost. Apparently they tried to enter the forbidden third floor corridor. Filch did not seem to like kids at all. He was always in a grump and seemed to love it when he caught someone doing the wrong thing.

Filch owned a cat called Mrs. Norris, a scrawny, dust-coloured creature with bulging, lamplike eyes just like Filch's. She patrolled the corridors alone. Break a rule in front of her, put just one toe out of line, and she'd whisk off for Filch, who'd appear, wheezing, two seconds later. Filch knew the secret passageways of the school better than anyone (except perhaps the Weasley twins) and could pop up as suddenly as any of the ghosts. The students all hated him, and it was the dearest ambition of many to give Mrs. Norris a good kick.

Alicia had been right about charms class. Professor Flitwick, the charms teacher, was a tiny little wizard who had to stand on a pile of books to see over his desk. At the start of their first class he took the roll call, and when he reached Harry's name he gave an excited squeak and toppled out of sight.

Alicia couldn't help but giggle.

Transfiguration began interestingly also, though Professor McGonagall was not someone who tolerated nonsense. She was strict and clever as she began the first class with a talking-to.

"Transfiguration is some of the most complex and dangerous magic you will learn at Hogwarts," she said. "Anyone messing around in my class will leave and not come back. You have been warned."

Then she changed her desk into a pig and back again. They were all very impressed and couldn't wait to get started, but soon realised they weren't going to be changing the furniture into animals for a long time. After taking a lot of complicated notes, they were each given a match and started trying to turn it into a needle. By the end of the lesson, Hermione Granger had made a difference to her match; it had gone all silver and pointy. Alicia on the other hand had transfigured several matches by the time the class ended, a small pile of needles had begun on her desk. Alicia earned her first set of house points for it and she was delighted. Hermione had even asked her how she did it and when Alicia showed and explained, Hermione got her match to change completely also.

The class everyone seemed to be looking forward to though was Defence Against the Dark Arts, but Quirrell's lessons turned out to be a bit of a joke. His classroom smelled strongly of garlic, which everyone said was to ward off a vampire he'd met in Romania and was afraid would be coming back to get him one of these days. His turban, he told them, had been given to him by an African prince as a thank-you for getting rid of a troublesome zombie, but they weren't sure they believed this story. For one thing, when Seamus Finnigan asked eagerly to hear how Quirrell had fought off the zombie, Quirrell went pink and started talking about the weather; for another, they had noticed that a funny smell hung around the turban, and the Weasley twins insisted that it was stuffed full of garlic as well, so that Quirrell was protected wherever he went.

The homework load had piled up for most of the first years by the end of the week. Alicia spent most afternoons trying to complete as much as possible, Hermione usually joining her at a common room table. Harry and Ron tried to keep up and they asked her lots of questions, most of which she could answer, if not vaguely.

Friday, the two boys sat down next to Alicia beaming.

"What happened?" she asked excitedly, wondering what more could happen in this castle.

"We didn't get lost." Harry answered. Alicia chuckled at them

"We wouldn't have the problem if you'd wait for us." Ron muttered to her

"You wouldn't have the problem if you hurried up." she snapped back

"What have we got today?" Harry asked Ron as he poured sugar on his porridge, breaking up the two.

"Double Potions with the Slytherins," said Ron. "Snape's Head of Slytherin House. They say he always favours them — we'll be able to see if it's true."

"I've been wondering how potions work!" Alicia said excitedly

"Wish McGonagall favoured us," said Harry. Professor McGonagall was head of Gryffindor House, but it hadn't stopped her from giving them a huge pile of homework the day before.

Just then, the mail arrived. It had been a bit of a shock on the first morning, when about a hundred owls had suddenly streamed into the Great Hall during breakfast, circling the tables until they saw their owners, and dropping letters and packages onto their laps.

Hedwig hadn't brought Harry anything so far and the same for Noel and Alicia. The two owls seemed to spend time together however as they'd always come into the Great Hall together and nibble on a bit of toast before going off to sleep in the owlery with the other school owls. This morning, however, Hedwig fluttered down between the marmalade and the sugar bowl and dropped a note onto Harry's plate. Harry tore it open at once. It said, in a very untidy scrawl:

 _Dear Harry,_

 _I know you get Friday afternoons off so would you and Alicia like to come and have a cup of tea with me around three?_

 _I want to hear all about your first week. Send us an answer back with Hedwig._

 _Hagrid_

"Yes!" Alicia agreed immediately. Harry borrowed Ron's quill, scribbled _Yes, please, see you later_ on the back of the note, and sent Hedwig off again.

Alicia was excited to be in potions, the lessons took place down in one of the dungeons. It was colder here than up in the main castle, and would have been quite creepy enough without the pickled animals floating in glass jars all around the walls.

The excitement however died a little when it began. It seemed Professor Snape hated Harry.

Snape, like Flitwick, started the class by taking the roll call. At Alicia's name he looked at her and his eyes lingered for a while as though he was examining her. She only smiled before he continued. Ron and Harry gave her a look but she shrugged. Like Flitwick, he paused at Harry's name also.

"Ah, _yes,_ " he said softly, "Harry Potter. Our new — _celebrity._ "

Draco Malfoy and his friends Crabbe and Goyle sniggered behind their hands. Snape finished calling the names and looked up at the class. His eyes were black like Hagrid's, but they had none of Hagrid's warmth. They were cold and empty and made you think of dark tunnels.

"You are here to learn the subtle science and exact art of potion-making," he began. He spoke in barely more than a whisper, but they caught every word — like Professor McGonagall, Snape had the gift of keeping a class silent without effort. "As there is little foolish wand-waving here, many of you will hardly believe this is magic. I don't expect you will really understand the beauty of the softly simmering cauldron with its shimmering fumes, the delicate power of liquids that creep through human veins, bewitching the mind, ensnaring the senses… I can teach you how to bottle fame, brew glory, even stopper death — if you aren't as big a bunch of dunderheads as I usually have to teach."

More silence followed this little speech. Harry and Ron exchanged looks with raised eyebrows, Alicia wrote down the words and was a little surprised that a teacher seemed to dislike teaching to much. Hermione was on the edge of her seat and looked desperate to start proving that she wasn't a dunderhead.

"Potter!" said Snape suddenly. "What would I get if I added powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?" Harry glanced at Ron, who looked as stumped as he was. Both looked at Alicia, like Hermione, her hand was in the air, though Hermione seemed more desperate to answer.

"I don't know, sir," said Harry.

Snape's lips curled into a sneer.

"Tut, tut — fame clearly isn't everything."

He ignored Hermione's hand as Alicia put her's down.

"Let's try again. Potter, where would you look if I told you to find me a bezoar?"

Hermione stretched her hand as high into the air as it would go without her leaving her seat, and Alicia just raised her casually again. Harry didn't have the faintest idea what a bezoar was. He tried not to look at Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle, who were shaking with laughter.

"I don't know, sir."

"Thought you wouldn't open a book before coming, eh, Potter?"

Harry forced himself to keep looking straight into those cold eyes. Alicia looked annoyed, she was a witness to him opening a book.

Snape was still ignoring Hermione's quivering hand but glanced at Alicia once, who seemed to realise he didn't care if they knew the answer, he just wanted to humiliate Harry.

"What is the difference, Potter, between monkshood and wolfsbane?"

At this, Hermione stood up, her hand stretching toward the dungeon ceiling. Alicia stayed in her seat.

"I don't know," said Harry quietly. "I think Hermione does, though, why don't you try her? Or even Alicia,"

A few people laughed; Harry caught Seamus's eye, and Seamus winked. Snape, however, was not pleased.

"Sit down," he snapped at Hermione. "For your information, Potter, asphodel and wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of Living Death." Alicia's hand was to her parchment as she scribbled down his words quickly "A bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for monkshood and wolfsbane, they are the same plant, which also goes by the name of aconite. Well? Why aren't you all copying that down?"

Alicia finished just as there was a sudden rummaging for quills and parchment. Over the noise, Snape said, "And a point will be taken from Gryffindor House for your cheek, Potter."

Things didn't improve for the Gryffindors as the Potions lesson continued. Snape put them all into pairs and set them to mixing up a simple potion to cure boils. He swept around in his long black cloak, watching them weigh dried nettles and crush snake fangs, criticising almost everyone except Malfoy, whom he seemed to like, and Alicia, who he seemed to just ignore instead. He was just telling everyone to look at the perfect way Malfoy had stewed his horned slugs when clouds of acid green smoke and a loud hissing filled the dungeon. Neville had somehow managed to melt Seamus's cauldron into a twisted blob, and their potion was seeping across the stone floor, burning holes in people's shoes. Within seconds, the whole class was standing on their stools while Neville, who had been drenched in the potion when the cauldron collapsed, moaned in pain as angry red boils sprang up all over his arms and legs.

"Idiot boy!" snarled Snape, clearing the spilled potion away with one wave of his wand. "I suppose you added the porcupine quills before taking the cauldron off the fire?"

Neville whimpered as boils started to pop up all over his nose.

"Take him up to the hospital wing," Snape spat at Seamus. Then he rounded on Harry and Ron, who had been working next to Neville.

"You — Potter — why didn't you tell him not to add the quills? Thought he'd make you look good if he got it wrong, did you? That's another point you've lost for Gryffindor."

This was so unfair that Harry opened his mouth to argue, but Ron kicked him behind their cauldron. Even Alicia went to say something but Hermione yanked on her robes.

"Don't push it," he muttered, "I've heard Snape can turn very nasty."

As they climbed the steps out of the dungeon an hour later, Harry's mind was racing and his spirits were low.

"That was just plain out rude." Alicia said as they left. "Your very first class, you've never met him before and yet he actually hates you! Blaming you for things that you couldn't even be blamed for." she muttered annoyed. This didn't help Harry's damp spirits and Ron gave Alicia a look who frowned in apology.

"Cheer up," said Ron, "Snape's always taking points off Fred and George. Can I come and meet Hagrid with you?" Alicia beamed and nodded, remembering the invite.

At five to three they left the castle and made their way across the grounds. Hagrid lived in a small wooden house on the edge of the forbidden forest. A crossbow and a pair of galoshes were outside the front door.

When Harry knocked they heard a frantic scrabbling from inside and several booming barks. Then Hagrid's voice rang out, saying, " _Back_ , Fang — _back._ "

Hagrid's big, hairy face appeared in the crack as he pulled the door open.

"Hang on," he said. " _Back,_ Fang."

He let them in, struggling to keep a hold on the collar of an enormous black boarhound.

There was only one room inside. Hams and pheasants were hanging from the ceiling, a copper kettle was boiling on the open fire, and in the corner stood a massive bed with a patchwork quilt over it.

"Make yerselves at home," said Hagrid, letting go of Fang, who bounded straight at Ron and started licking his ears. Like Hagrid, Fang was clearly not as fierce as he looked.

"This is Ron," Harry told Hagrid, who was pouring boiling water into a large teapot and putting rock cakes onto a plate.

"Another Weasley, eh?" said Hagrid, glancing at Ron's freckles. "I spent half me life chasin' yer twin brothers away from the forest."

"I bet that only made them want to go in more." Alicia smiled as she took a rock cake. The rock cakes were shapeless lumps with raisins that almost broke their teeth, but the three pretended to be enjoying them as they told Hagrid all about their first lessons. Fang rested his head on Harry's knee and drooled all over his robes.

Harry and Ron were delighted to hear Hagrid call Filch "that old git''

"An' as fer that cat, Mrs. Norris, I'd like ter introduce her to Fang sometime. D'yeh know, every time I go up ter the school, she follows me everywhere? Can't get rid of her — Filch puts her up to it."

"Why? Does he believe you'd do something wrong?" Alicia asked confused, Hagrid seemed as good as a teacher…

Harry told Hagrid about Snape's lesson. Hagrid, like Ron, told Harry not to worry about it, that Snape liked hardly any of the students.

"But he seemed to really _hate_ me."

"Rubbish!" said Hagrid. "Why should he?"

"I don't know if being completely ignored by him is better…" Alicia admitted

"Ignored?" Hagrid asked

"He looked me over when he reached my name, and then never noticed me again." she shrugged "It was strange considering he picked on everyone else." Hagrid looked confused also but decided to change the subject.

"How's yer brother Charlie?" Hagrid asked Ron. "I liked him a lot — great with animals."

While Ron told Hagrid all about Charlie's work with dragons, Harry picked up a piece of paper that was lying on the table under the tea cozy. It was a cutting from the _Daily Prophet_ :

GRINGOTTS BREAK-IN LATEST

Investigations continue into the break-in at Gringotts on 31 July, widely believed to be the work of Dark wizards or witches unknown.

Gringotts goblins today insisted that nothing had been taken. The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied the same day.

"But we're not telling you what was in there, so keep your noses out if you know what's good for you," said a Gringotts spokes-goblin this afternoon.

Harry and Alicia shared a look, remembering Ron telling him on the train that someone had tried to rob Gringotts, but Ron hadn't mentioned the date.

"Hagrid!" said Harry interrupting Ron mid sentence, "that Gringotts break-in happened on mine and Alicia's birthday! It might've been happening while we were there!"

There was no doubt about it, Hagrid definitely didn't meet Harry's eyes. He grunted and offered him another rock cake. Harry read the story again. _The vault that was searched had in fact been emptied earlier that same day._ Hagrid had emptied vault seven hundred and thirteen, if you could call it emptying, taking out that grubby little package. Had that been what the thieves were looking for?

Harry and looked at Alicia who raised an eyebrow and glanced at Hagrid. She then nodded, thinking the same thing.

As Harry, Alicia and Ron walked back to the castle for dinner, their pockets were weighed down with rock cakes they'd been too polite to refuse. Alicia discarded a few, throwing them to the sides as the walked. Ron made a competition out of it with her before they entered the Entrance Hall.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

After their first week, Alicia didn't believe there was much that could get her excitement hyped up again.

She was wrong.

A notice had been pinned up in the Gryffindor common room of what most people groaned too. Flying lessons would be starting on Thursday — Alicia beamed and then read the rest of it — Gryffindor and Slytherin would be learning together.

"That's what everyone was groaning about." she muttered. It seemed Gryffindor and Slytherin were the natural enemies. Ravenclaw endured a little from Slytherin and Hufflepuff were their favourite pick-on-house, but Gryffindor seemed to be the rival.

"Typical," said Harry darkly. "Just what I always wanted. To make a fool of myself on a broomstick in front of Malfoy."

He had been looking forward to learning to fly more than anything else.

"You don't know that you'll make a fool of yourself," said Ron reasonably. "Anyway, I know Malfoy's always going on about how good he is at Quidditch, but I bet that's all talk."

"I for one am refusing to let that dampen my mood." Alicia said crossing her arms. She paused for a minute before grabbing Harry's arm and grinning "We get to start learning to fly! Oh I'm so excited!" Harry and Ron laughed at her sudden change in mood.

Malfoy certainly did talk about flying a lot. He complained loudly about first years never getting on the House Quidditch teams and told long, boastful stories that always seemed to end with him narrowly escaping Muggles in helicopters. He wasn't the only one, though: the way Seamus Finnigan told it, he'd spent most of his childhood zooming around the countryside on his broomstick. Even Ron would tell anyone who'd listen about the time he'd almost hit a hang glider on Charlie's old broom. Everyone from wizarding families talked about Quidditch constantly. Ron had already had a big argument with Dean Thomas, who shared their dormitory, about soccer. Ron couldn't see what was exciting about a game with only one ball where no one was allowed to fly. Alicia had quickly jumping in to defend Dean to which Ron called her a traitor.

"What? Soccer I have experience with." she admitted. Apparently, Harry had caught Ron prodding Dean's poster of West Ham soccer team, trying to make the players move.

Neville had never been on a broomstick in his life, because his grandmother had never let him near one. Privately, Alicia felt she'd had good reason, because Neville managed to have an extraordinary number of accidents even with both feet on the ground.

Hermione was almost as nervous about flying as Neville was. This was something you couldn't learn by heart out of a book — not that she hadn't tried. At breakfast on Thursday she bored them all stupid with flying tips she'd gotten out of a library book called _Quidditch Through the Ages._ Neville was hanging on to her every word, desperate for anything that might help him hang on to his broomstick later, but everybody else was very pleased when Alicia snapped.

"Hermione!" she said strongly and the girl looked up "I know you're nervous, but please stop, you're not helping my nerves you're making it boring." she admitted. Hermione clamped her mouth shut after that and everyone sent her a thankful glance as the mail arrived.

A barn owl brought Neville a small package from his grandmother. He opened it excitedly and showed them a glass ball the size of a large marble, which seemed to be full of white smoke.

"It's a Remembrall!" he explained. "Gran knows I forget things — this tells you if there's something you've forgotten to do. Look, you hold it tight like this and if it turns red — oh…" His face fell, because the Remembrall had suddenly glowed scarlet, "… you've forgotten something…"

"Does it help you remember?" Alicia asked, Neville shook his head before trying to remember what he'd forgotten. Alicia thought it was rather silly of an invention if it couldn't help you remember what you'd forgotten.

Draco Malfoy, who was passing the Gryffindor table, suddenly snatched the Remembrall out of his hand.

Harry and Ron jumped to their feet, Alicia sat looking irritated as she ate her breakfast and had a hand on her wand. The boys were clearly half hoping for a reason to fight Malfoy, but Professor McGonagall, who could spot trouble quicker than any teacher in the school, was there in a flash.

"What's going on?"

"Malfoy's got my Remembrall, Professor."

Scowling, Malfoy quickly dropped the Remembrall back on the table.

"Just looking," he said, and he sloped away with Crabbe and Goyle behind him.

* * *

At three-thirty that afternoon, Harry, Ron, Alicia and the other Gryffindors hurried down the front steps onto the grounds for their first flying lesson. It was a clear, breezy day, and the grass rippled under their feet as they marched down the sloping lawns toward a smooth, flat lawn on the opposite side of the grounds to the forbidden forest, whose trees were swaying darkly in the distance.

The Slytherins were already there, and so were twenty broomsticks lying in neat lines on the ground. The Weasley twins, always up for a challenge, had tried to diminish Alicia's spirits by admitting the school brooms were useless. She'd said it'd make her a better flyer in the long run if she started on something hard.

Their teacher, Madam Hooch, arrived. She had short, grey hair, and yellow eyes like a hawk.

"Well, what are you all waiting for?" she barked. "Everyone stand by a broomstick. Come on, hurry up."

Alicia glanced at her broomstick, it did seem old and she hoped it didn't cause too much trouble.

"Stick out your right hand over your broom," called Madam Hooch at the front, "and say 'Up!' "

"UP!" everyone shouted.

Both Alicia and Harry's broom jumped into their hands at once and they shared a high-five. However their brooms were one of the few that did. Hermione's had simply rolled over on the ground, and Neville's hadn't moved at all. Perhaps brooms, like horses, could tell when you were afraid; there was a quaver in Neville's voice that said only too clearly that he wanted to keep his feet on the ground.

Madam Hooch then showed them how to mount their brooms without sliding off the end, and walked up and down the rows correcting their grips. Harry and Ron were delighted when she told Malfoy he'd been doing it wrong for years.

"Now, when I blow my whistle, you kick off from the ground, hard," said Madam Hooch. "Keep your brooms steady, rise a few feet, and then come straight back down by leaning forward slightly. On my whistle — three — two —"

But Neville, nervous and jumpy and frightened of being left on the ground, pushed off hard before the whistle had touched Madam Hooch's lips.

"Come back, boy!" she shouted, but Neville was rising straight up like a cork shot out of a bottle — twelve feet — twenty feet. His scared white face was plain to see as he look down at the ground falling away, he gasped, slipped sideways off the broom and —

WHAM — a thud and a nasty crack and Neville was laying facedown on the grass in a heap. His broomstick was still rising higher and higher, and started to drift lazily toward the forbidden forest and out of sight.

Madam Hooch was bending over Neville, her face as white as his.

"Broken wrist," They heard her mutter. "Come on, boy — it's all right, up you get."

She turned to the rest of the class.

"None of you is to move while I take this boy to the hospital wing! You leave those brooms where they are or you'll be out of Hogwarts before you can say 'Quidditch.' Come on, dear."

Neville, his face tear-streaked, clutching his wrist, hobbled off with Madam Hooch, who had her arm around him.

No sooner were they out of earshot than Malfoy burst into laughter.

"Did you see his face, the great lump?" The other Slytherins joined in.

"Shut up, Malfoy," snapped Parvati Patil.

"Ooh, sticking up for Longbottom?" said Pansy Parkinson, a hard-faced Slytherin girl. "Never thought _you'd_ like fat little crybabies, Parvati."

"Shut up or I'll mangle that already hideous face of yours." Alicia said with an acid smile.

"Look!" said Malfoy, darting forward and snatching something out of the grass. "It's that stupid thing Longbottom's gran sent him."

The Remembrall glittered in the sun as he held it up.

"Give that here, Malfoy," said Harry quietly. Everyone stopped talking to watch.

Malfoy smiled nastily.

"I think I'll leave it somewhere for Longbottom to find — how about — up a tree?"

"Give it _here_!" Harry yelled, but Malfoy had leapt onto his broomstick and taken off. He hadn't been lying, he _could_ fly well. Hovering level with the topmost branches of an oak he called, "Come and get it, Potter!"

Harry grabbed his broom.

" _No_!" shouted Hermione. "Madam Hooch told us not to move — you'll get us all into trouble."

"No, _he'll_ just get into trouble." Alicia corrected

Harry ignored them both. He mounted the broom and kicked hard against the ground and up, up he soared; air rushed through his hair, and his robes whipped out behind him. Alicia watched, her mouth slowly opening as Harry flew like he'd done it his whole life. He pulled his broomstick up a little to take it even higher, and heard screams and gasps of girls back on the ground and an admiring whoop from Ron.

He turned his broomstick sharply to face Malfoy in midair. Malfoy looked stunned.

"Give it here," Harry called, "or I'll knock you off that broom!"

"Oh, yeah?" said Malfoy, trying to sneer, but looking worried. Harry leaned forward and grasped the broom tightly in both hands, and it shot toward Malfoy like a javelin. Malfoy only just got out of the way in time; Harry made a sharp about-face and held the broom steady. A few people below were clapping.

"No Crabbe and Goyle up here to save your neck, Malfoy," Harry called.

The same thought seemed to have struck Malfoy.

"Catch it if you can, then!" he shouted, and he threw the glass ball high into the air and streaked back toward the ground.

Alicia watched the Remembrall and moved away from everyone as she traced it. Harry saw it too as he leaned forward and pointed his broom handle down — next second he was gathering speed in a steep dive, racing the ball. Alicia stopped as he headed slightly towards her where she'd been waiting for the Remembrall as a few people screamed.

He stretched out his hand — a foot from the ground he caught it, just in time to pull his broom straight, and he toppled gently onto the grass with the Remembrall clutched safely in his fist.

"Are you alright?" Alicia asked immediately, kneeling beside him

"Yeah." he beamed. Alicia grinned as he held the Remembrall.

"HARRY POTTER!"

Harry's heart sank faster than he'd just dived as Alicia bit her lip, turning towards the voice. Professor McGonagall was running toward them. He got to his feet, trembling with Alicia's help.

" _Never_ — in all my time at Hogwarts —" Professor McGonagall was almost speechless with shock, and her glasses flashed furiously, "— how _dare_ you — might have broken your neck —"

"It wasn't his fault, Professor —"

"Be quiet, Miss Patil —"

"Professor McGonagall —" Alicia began

"Ms Evans —" she was still in a rage and didn't answer.

"But Malfoy —"

"That's _enough,_ Mr. Weasley. Potter, follow me, now."

Harry caught sight of Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle's triumphant faces as he left, walking numbly in Professor McGonagall's wake as she strode toward the castle.

"He's not going to be expelled is he?" Alicia whispered to Ron, so that Malfoy couldn't hear.

"I hope not." Ron muttered.

A few minutes later and Madam Hooch rejoined them. She didn't ask, nor seem to notice Harry's disappearance and she continued the lesson like nothing ever happened.

Alicia, though worried for Harry, got into the air on her broom without a problem. She realised it was easy and beamed as Madam Hooch gave a few pointers and helped those in need. Alicia was flying in circles with Seamus and Ron and as Madam Hooch became more and more lenient they began to play, what Alicia assumed, was a substituted version of Quidditch.

* * *

Alicia raced into the Great Hall for dinner and slammed down right next to Harry, grabbing his arm.

"What happened? Did you get detention? Did she listen to you about Malfoy? Oh please tell me you aren't leaving!" she said quickly. Harry smiled as Ron caught up.

"I'm not leaving." he assured and Alicia let out a long breath she hadn't realised she'd been holding and released his arm.

"Thank god!" she said

"Then what happened?" Ron wondered

"McGonagall made me the Gryffindor teams new seeker." Harry said. Ron looked at him shocked before Harry explained her going to Wood's class and the two marvelling at his excellent dive and catching the near clear, transparent Remembrall.

"You're _joking._ " Ron said

"But if first years aren't allowed a broom, how do they get on the team?" Alicia questioned

"They're not allowed on the team." Ron said shocked. He looked Harry over

" _Seeker_?" he said. "But first years _never_ — you must be the youngest House player in about —"

"— a century," said Harry, shovelling pie into his mouth. He felt particularly hungry after the excitement of the afternoon. "Wood told me."

Ron was so amazed, so impressed, he just sat and gaped at Harry.

"I start training next week," said Harry. "Only don't tell anyone, Wood wants to keep it a secret."

"Oh can I come watch! After today I would love to play Quidditch!" Alicia huffed and looked annoyed "Can't believe you made the team before I can even have a chance." Harry grinned as Fred and George Weasley now came into the hall, spotted Harry, and hurried over.

"Well done," said George in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too — Beaters."

"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch Cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry, Wood was almost skipping when he told us."

"Anyway, we've got to go, Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school."

"Bet it's that one behind the statue of Gregory the Smarmy that we found in our first week. See you."

Fred and George had hardly disappeared when someone far less welcome turned up: Malfoy, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle.

"Having a last meal, Potter? When are you getting the train back to the Muggles?"

"You're a lot braver now that you're back on the ground and you've got your little friends with you," said Harry coolly. There was of course nothing at all little about Crabbe and Goyle, but as the High Table was full of teachers, neither of them could do more than crack their knuckles and scowl.

"I'd take you on anytime on my own," said Malfoy. "Tonight, if you want. Wizard's duel. Wands only — no contact. What's the matter? Never heard of a wizards duel before, I suppose?"

"Of course he has," said Ron, wheeling around. "I'm his second, Alicia's his third, who's yours?" Alicia paused as she went to put some ice-cream into her mouth.

Malfoy looked at Crabbe and Goyle, sizing them up.

"Crabbe, then Goyle." he said. "Midnight all right? We'll meet you in the trophy room; that's always unlocked."

When Malfoy had gone, Ron, Alicia and Harry looked at each other.

"I'm sorry, what did you just rope me into?" she demanded

"What _is_ a wizards duel?" said Harry. "And what do you mean, you're my second?"

"Well, a second's there to take over if you die," said Ron casually, getting started at last on his cold pie. "The third takes over for the second." he pointed to Alicia. Catching the look on Harry's face, he added quickly, "But people only die in proper duels, you know, with real wizards. The most you and Malfoy'll be able to do is send sparks at each other. Neither of you knows enough magic to do any real damage. I bet he expected you to refuse, anyway."

"I feel confident then. Send them flying through a trophy stand." Alicia grinned

"And what if I wave my wand and nothing happens?"

"Throw it away and punch him on the nose," Ron suggested.

"He said no contact Ron." Alicia rolled her eyes

"Excuse me."

They both looked up. It was Hermione Granger.

"Can't a person eat in peace in this place?" said Ron.

Hermione ignored him and spoke to Harry.

"I couldn't help overhearing what you and Malfoy were saying —"

"Bet you could," Ron muttered.

"— and you _mustn't_ go wandering around the school at night, think of the points you'll lose Gryffindor if you're caught, and you're bound to be. It's really very selfish of you."

"Hermione, you need to stop worrying about these boys getting themselves in trouble." Alicia said with a sigh. It seemed they were getting good at that.

"And it's really none of your business," said Harry.

"Good-bye," said Ron.

As they sat in the common room later Ron was throwing tips at him.

"If he tries to curse you, you'd better dodge it, because I can't remember how to block them."

"I do." Alicia smiled " _Protego_." she said "It will send the spell back at him and if he uses a very dark spell you use _Protego Horribilis_ which is for dark magic. But I doubt Malfoy will be using any of that." she rolled her eyes

"What else have you got?" Ron asked interested

" _Petrificus Totalus_ is a body binding spell, it'll lock the whole person's body up and prevent them from moving." she though " _Relashio_ will send hot sparks at him but I don't think you want to set him on fire. _Rictusempra_ is a tickling charm."

"I'm not going to remember all these." Harry muttered

"Cause you will. _Protego_ \- shield. _Petrificus Totalus -_ immobile. _Rictusempra_ \- tickle. I say start with _Petrificus Totalus._ Then it's over for Malfoy and I seriously doubt Crabbe of Goyle will jump in if Malfoy's on the floor immobile." she rolled her eyes.

"What about if we run into Filch? Or Mrs Norris?" Ron realised

"Or Peeves, he'd tattle on us easily." Alicia rolled her eyes

"Don't you have a hidden spell?" Ron asked

"Probably but it wouldn't work on any teachers." she admitted "Something about them knowing when there's a student using magic to hide at night in the corridors." she shrugged "If we're careful, we should be fine." she believed.

They went to their dormitories at a reasonable hour and laid waiting for the time to approach. Alicia fell asleep but had set an alarm to wake her up incase. She snapped it shut before anyone else could wake up, Lavender rolled over in her sleep but everything else was fine.

Until she noticed Hermione's bed was empty.

"Oh god." Alicia muttered. She moved down the steps to find Ron and Harry facing Hermione in her pink fluffy bathrobe.

"I almost told your brother," Hermione snapped, "Percy — he's a prefect, he'd put a stop to this."

"Then why didn't you?" Alicia asked joining the two boys. Hermione didn't answer and Ron rolled his eyes.

"Come on," Harry said to Ron. He pushed open the portrait of the Fat Lady and climbed through the hole, Harry and Alicia behind him.

Hermione wasn't going to give up that easily. She followed Ron through the portrait hole, hissing at them like an angry goose.

"Don't you _care_ about Gryffindor, do you _only_ care about yourselves, _I_ don't want Slytherin to win the House Cup, and you'll lose all the points Alicia and I got from Professor McGonagall for knowing about Switching Spells."

"Go away."

"Hermione, it's only the beginning of the year, if we got points before, we can get more later." Alicia said, a little annoyed by the girl now.

"All right, but I warned you, you just remember what I said when you're on the train home tomorrow, you're so —"

But what they were, they didn't find out. Hermione had turned to the portrait of the Fat Lady to get back inside and found herself facing an empty painting. The Fat Lady had gone on a nighttime visit and Hermione was locked out of Gryffindor Tower.

"Now what am I going to do?" she asked shrilly.

"That's your problem," said Ron. "We've got to go, we're going to be late."

They hadn't even reached the end of the corridor when Hermione caught up with them.

"I'm coming with you," she said.

"You are _not._ "

"D'you think I'm going to stand out here and wait for Filch to catch me? If he finds all three of us I'll tell him the truth, that I was trying to stop you, and you can back me up."

"Yeah right." Alicia mumbled

"You've got some nerve —" said Ron loudly.

"Shut up, both of you!" said Harry sharply. "I heard something." It was a sort of snuffling.

"Mrs. Norris?" breathed Ron, squinting through the dark.

It wasn't Mrs. Norris. It was Neville. He was curled up on the floor, fast asleep, but jerked suddenly awake as they crept nearer.

"Thank goodness you found me! I've been out here for hours, I couldn't remember the new password to get in to bed."

"Keep your voice down, Neville. The password's 'Pig snout' but it won't help you now, the Fat Lady's gone off somewhere."

"How's your arm?" said Harry.

"Fine," said Neville, showing them. "Madam Pomfrey mended it in about a minute."

"Awesome." Alicia nodded before turning to Harry "We need to go."

"Don't leave me!" said Neville, scrambling to his feet, "I don't want to stay here alone, the Bloody Baron's been past twice already."

Ron looked at his watch and then glared furiously at Hermione and Neville.

"If either of you get us caught, I'll never rest until I've learned that Curse of the Bogies Quirrell told us about, and used it on you."

Hermione opened her mouth, perhaps to tell Ron exactly how to use the Curse of the Bogies, but Harry hissed at her to be quiet and beckoned them all forward.

They flitted along corridors striped with bars of moonlight from the high windows. At every turn Harry expected to run into Filch or Mrs. Norris, but they were lucky. They sped up a staircase to the third floor and tiptoed toward the trophy room.

Malfoy, Crabbe and Goyle weren't there yet. The crystal trophy cases glimmered where the moonlight caught them. Cups, shields, plates, and statues winked silver and gold in the darkness. They edged along the walls, keeping their eyes on the doors at either end of the room. Harry took out his wand in case Malfoy leapt in and started at once. The minutes crept by.

"He's late, maybe he's chickened out," Ron whispered.

"I bet he decided not to come…" Alicia muttered.

Then a noise in the next room made them jump. Harry had only just raised his wand when they heard someone speak — and it wasn't Malfoy.

"Sniff around, my sweet, they might be lurking in a corner."

It was Filch speaking to Mrs. Norris. Horror-struck, Harry waved madly at the other three to follow him as quickly as possible; they scurried silently toward the door, away from Filch's voice. Neville's robes had barely whipped round the corner when they heard Filch enter the trophy room.

"They're in here somewhere," they heard him mutter, "probably hiding."

"This way!" Harry mouthed to the others and, petrified, they began to creep down a long gallery full of suits of armour. They could hear Filch getting nearer. Neville suddenly let out a frightened squeak and broke into a run — he tripped, grabbed Ron around the waist, and the pair of them toppled right into a suit of armour.

The clanging and crashing were enough to wake the whole castle.

"RUN!" Harry yelled, and the five of them sprinted down the gallery, not looking back to see whether Filch was following — they swung around the doorpost and galloped down one corridor then another, Harry in the lead, without any idea where they were or where they were going — they ripped through a tapestry and found themselves in a hidden passageway, hurtled along it and came out near their Charms classroom, which they knew was miles from the trophy room.

"I think we've lost him," Harry panted, leaning against the cold wall and wiping his forehead. Neville was bent double, wheezing and spluttering.

"I'm gonna blast Malfoy." Alicia said angrily through her pants.

"I — _told_ — you," Hermione gasped, clutching at the stitch in her chest, "I — told — you."

"We've got to get back to Gryffindor Tower," said Ron, "quickly as possible."

"Malfoy tricked you," Hermione said to Harry. "You realise that, don't you? He was never going to meet you — Filch knew someone was going to be in the trophy room, Malfoy must have tipped him off."

"It's not surprising he'd play dirty to get us expelled." Alicia agreed annoyed

"Let's go."

It wasn't going to be that simple. They hadn't gone more than a dozen paces when a doorknob rattled and something came shooting out of a classroom in front of them.

It was Peeves.

"Oh god." Alicia breathed. He caught sight of them and gave a squeal of delight.

"Shut up, Peeves — please — you'll get us thrown out."

Peeves cackled.

"Wandering around at midnight, Ickle Firsties? Tut, tut, tut. Naughty, naughty, you'll get caughty."

"Not if you don't give us away, Peeves, please."

"Should tell Filch, I should," said Peeves in a sanity voice, but his eyes glittered wickedly. "It's for your own good, you know."

"Do you want to delight Filch? Or would you rather mess with him?" Alicia asked casually. Peeves seemed to think this over before Ron got impatient

"Get out of the way," snapped Ron, taking a swipe at Peeves — this was a big mistake.

"STUDENTS OUT OF BED!" Peeves bellowed, "STUDENTS OUT OF BED DOWN THE CHARMS CORRIDOR!"

"Ron! I almost had it!" Alicia snapped before they ducked under Peeves and ran for their lives, right to the end of the corridor where they slammed into a door — and it was locked.

"This is it!" Ron moaned, as they pushed helplessly at the door, "We're done for! This is the end!" Alicia rolled her eyes at him.

They could hear footsteps, Filch running as fast as he could toward Peeves's shouts.

"Oh, move over," Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand, tapped the lock, and whispered, " _Alohomora_!"

The lock clicked and the door swung open — they piled through it, shut it quickly, and pressed their ears against it, listening.

"Which way did they go, Peeves?" Filch was saying. "Quick, tell me."

"Say 'please.' "

"Don't mess with me, Peeves, now _where did they go_?"

"Shan't say nothing if you don't say please," said Peeves in his annoying singsong voice.

"All right — _please._ "

"NOTHING! Ha haaa! Told you I wouldn't say nothing if you didn't say please! Ha ha! Haaaaaa!" And they heard the sound of Peeves whooshing away and Filch cursing in rage. Alicia let out a sigh of relief and moved away from the door but froze as she turned around.

"He thinks this door is locked," Harry whispered. "I think we'll be okay — get _off,_ Neville!" For Neville had been tugging on the sleeve of Harry's bathrobe for the last minute. " _What_?"

Harry turned around — and saw what had grabbed Alicia and Neville's attention.

They weren't in a room. They were in a corridor. The forbidden corridor on the third floor. And now they knew why it was forbidden.

They were looking straight into the eyes of a monstrous dog, a dog that filled the whole space between ceiling and floor. It had three heads. Three pairs of rolling, mad eyes; three noses, twitching and quivering in their direction; three drooling mouths, saliva hanging in slippery ropes from yellowish fangs.

It was standing quite still, all six eyes staring at them, and Harry knew that the only reason they weren't already dead was that their sudden appearance had taken it by surprise, but it was quickly getting over that, there was no mistaking what those thunderous growls meant.

Harry groped for the doorknob as Alicia took very slow steps backward and everyone pressed on the door quietly, putting what little distance there was between them an the dog.

They fell backward as Harry opened the door and slammed it shut before they ran, almost flew, back down the corridor. Filch must have hurried off to look for them somewhere else, because they didn't see him anywhere, but they hardly cared — all they wanted to do was put as much space as possible between them and that monster. They didn't stop running until they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady on the seventh floor.

"Where on earth have you all been?" she asked, looking at their bathrobes hanging off their shoulders and their flushed, sweaty faces.

"No where we're returning to in a hurry." Alicia breathed truthfully

"Never mind that — pig snout, pig snout," panted Harry, and the portrait swung forward. They scrambled into the common room and collapsed, trembling, into armchairs.

It was a while before any of them said anything. Neville, indeed, looked as if he'd never speak again.

"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" said Ron finally. "If any dog needs exercise, that one does."

"He wasn't joking when he mentioned a painful horrible death." Alicia remembered Dumbledore warning on their first night.

Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back again.

"You don't use your eyes, any of you, do you?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"

"The floor?" Harry suggested. "I wasn't looking at its feet, I was too busy with its heads."

"No, _not_ the floor." Hermione snapped

"It was standing on a trapdoor." Alicia said with a roll of her eyes.

"It's obviously guarding something." Hermione stood up, glaring at them. "I hope you're pleased with yourselves. We could all have been killed — or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."

Ron stared after her, his mouth open.

"No, we don't mind," he said. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"

"Well, I don't know if that was better or worse then making a heap of noise in the trophy room." Alicia muttered "But I think I'm going to bed too." she nodded and followed Hermione to the girls dormitories.

"I cannot _believe_ you were okay with that." Hermione said, she was standing on the stairs waiting.

"What? Running from Filch and seeing a three headed dog?" Alicia asked "Of course I wasn't okay with that! Hitting Malfoy with a stinging jinx I read about, yes that I was okay with." she nodded.

"You could have gotten in _trouble_."

"Hermione, rules are meant to be broken." Alicia said "Otherwise there would be no need for them. You get in trouble, so what, you learn from it. Not everything can be learned from a book Hermione." she scolded back before she opened the dormitory door

"And your information, you need to get you priorities straight. What kind of person fears getting expelled from a school more then dying?" she demanded. She moved to her four poster bed and pulled the curtains after discarding her bathrobe.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Alicia waited for the two boys and they made their way down to breakfast the next morning. Alicia immediately looked to the Slytherin table and saw Malfoy, looking at them dumbfounded.

"You know what, we should pretend last night was a breeze and talk about what a coward he is for not turning up." Alicia said

"Who would believe that?" Harry asked

"Draco Malfoy, ditched out of secret wizard duel as he was too scared to face the famous Harry Potter." Alicia said, spreading out the headlines as they sat down. She made sure to say it loud enough that a few from both the Gryffindor and the Ravenclaw table behind them heard and the whispers began.

"I think you already did." Ron muttered, Alicia smirked

"Rumours are useful sometimes."

"What I the teachers find out?" Harry worried

"They're just rumours." Alicia shrugged mischievously. "Plus no one needs to truly know about our adventure." she whispered just to the two. The three had quickly agreed that meeting the three-headed dog had been an excellent adventure, and they were quite keen to have another one. In the meantime, Harry filled Ron in about the package that seemed to have been moved from Gringotts to Hogwarts, and they spent a lot of time wondering what could possibly need such heavy protection.

"It's either really valuable or really dangerous," said Ron.

"Or both," said Harry.

"Maybe they knew someone wanted it and that's why they moved it." Alicia muttered.

But as all they knew for sure about the mysterious object was that it was about two inches long, they didn't have much chance of guessing what it was without further clues.

Neither Neville nor Hermione showed the slightest interest in what lay underneath the dog and the trapdoor. All Neville cared about was never going near the dog again.

Hermione was now refusing to speak to Harry and Ron, she tried not to with Alicia, but seemed to fail as she was the only one who understood her language. As she was such a bossy know-it-all, the boys saw her silence as an added bonus. All they really wanted now was a way of getting back at Malfoy, and to their great delight, just such a thing arrived in the mail about a week later.

As the owls flooded into the Great Hall as usual, everyone's attention was caught at once by a long, thin package carried by six large screech owls. Alicia was just as interested as everyone else to see what was in this large parcel, and was amazed when the owls soared down and dropped it right in front of Harry, knocking his bacon to the floor. They had hardly fluttered out of the way when another owl dropped a letter on top of the parcel.

Harry ripped open the letter first with Alicia looking over his shoulder, which was lucky, because it said:

 _DO NOT OPEN THE PARCEL AT THE TABLE.  
It contains your new Nimbus Two Thousand, but I don't want everybody knowing you've got a broomstick or they'll all want one. Oliver Wood will meet you tonight on the Quidditch field at seven o'clock for your first training session._

"She's right." Alicia muttered and Harry looked at her "I want one!" she whined. Harry smirked and had difficulty hiding his glee as he handed the note to Ron to read.

"A Nimbus Two Thousand!" Ron moaned enviously. "I've never even _touched_ one."

"Now you can!" Alicia grinned "Harry can I come watch practice? Pleeeaasee." she begged. Harry smiled and nodded which caused the girl to jump up with an excited squeal.

They left the hall quickly, wanting to unwrap the broomstick in private before their first class, but halfway across the entrance hall they found the way upstairs barred by Crabbe and Goyle. Malfoy seized the package from Harry and felt it.

"That's a broomstick," he said, throwing it back to Harry with a mixture of jealousy and spite on his face. "You'll be in for it this time, Potter, first years aren't allowed them."

Ron couldn't resist it.

"It's not any old broomstick," he said, "it's a Nimbus Two Thousand. What did you say you've got at home, Malfoy, a Comet Two Sixty?" Ron grinned at Harry. "Comets look flashy, but they're not in the same league as the Nimbus."

"What would you know about it, Weasley, you couldn't afford half the handle," Malfoy snapped back. "I suppose you and your brothers have to save up twig by twig."

Alicia was ready to hit him with another jinx and Ron opened his mouth to spit back when Professor Flitwick appeared at Malfoy's elbow.

"Not arguing, I hope, boys?" he squeaked.

"Potter's been sent a broomstick, Professor," said Malfoy quickly.

"Yes, yes, that's right," said Professor Flitwick, beaming at Harry. "Professor McGonagall told me all about the special circumstances, Potter. And what model is it?"

"A Nimbus Two Thousand, sir," said Harry, fighting not to laugh at the look of horror on Malfoy's face. Alicia however happily gave in and chuckled. "And it's really thanks to Malfoy here that I've got it," he added.

Harry and Ron headed upstairs, smothering their laughter at Malfoy's obvious rage and confusion while Alicia's laughter carried down the stairs to the Slytherins.

"Well, it's true," Harry chortled as they reached the top of the marble staircase, "If he hadn't stolen Neville's Remembrall I wouldn't be on the team…"

"So I suppose you think that's a reward for breaking rules?" came an angry voice from just behind them. Hermione was stomping up the stairs, looking disapprovingly at the package in Harry's hand.

Alicia sighed.

"Can't you congratulate him instead of scolding him for once, he made the team, no matter what the circumstances." Alicia smiled

"I thought you weren't speaking to us?" said Harry.

"Yes, don't stop now," said Ron, "its doing us so much good." Hermione marched away with her nose in the air.

Alicia was so excited to see Harry on his broomstick and learn about quidditch first hand that nothing went wrong for her in classes. She passed the potion Snape made them make with flying colours, she transfigured the current object in Transfiguration and earned ten points as even Hermione hadn't been able to yet. Professor Flitwick was delighted when she performed the current charm perfectly and even stuttering Quirrell complimented her work in Defence Against the Dark Arts.

She rushed into the Great Hall that night and with Harry, bolted her dinner that evening without noticing what she were eating. With Ron at their side the two rushed upstairs to unwrap the Nimbus Two Thousand at last.

"Wow," Ron sighed, as the broomstick rolled onto Harry's bedspread.

Even Harry, who knew nothing about the different brooms, thought it looked wonderful. Sleek and shiny, with a mahogany handle, it had a long tail of neat, straight twigs and Nimbus Two Thousand written in gold near the top.

"The second we get home I am buying a broomstick!" Alicia rushed out

"You can't use it?" Harry reminded her

"I don't care I just wanna own one." she managed to get out.

As seven o'clock drew nearer, Harry and Alicia left the castle and set off in the dusk toward the Quidditch field. Neither one had ever been inside the stadium before. Hundreds of seats were raised in stands around the field so that the spectators were high enough to see what was going on. At either end of the field were three golden poles with hoops on the end. To Alicia, they looked like bubble blower sticks, just fifty feet high and in the air.

Alicia laughed and ran over the field before turning to Harry.

"And here comes the Gryffindor team with their new seeker, Harry Potter!" she held her hand to her mouth as though holding a microphone and tried to contain her laughter as she spoke.

Harry, who was already eager to fly on the new broom mounted it and kicked off from the ground.

"And Gryffindor's winning by ninety points, if Potter catches the snitch they'll win by a mile!" Alicia called up to Harry as he swooped in and out of the goal posts and then sped up and down the field.

"Oh and it looks like he's spotted the snitch!" Alicia said excitedly

"You'd make a good commentator." Alicia spun around to see a boy, he was a burly fifth-year. He had a large wooden crate in his arms.

"Thanks." she smiled

"Who are you?" Alicia assumed this was Oliver Wood

"Alicia Evans. I hope it's okay that I come watch." She smiled

"You a Gryffindor too?" he asked putting down the crate.

"Yep and I'm trying to the team next year, do you think there'll be an opening?" she asked hopefully

"Possibly." he seemed to like her enthusiasm as they turned back to Harry in the sky.

"It looks like so much fun." she whispered

"Hey, Potter, come down!" Wood shouted. Harry landed next to him.

"Very nice," said Wood, his eyes glinting. "I see what McGonagall meant… you really are a natural. I'm just going to teach you the rules this evening, then you'll be joining team practice three times a week."

He opened the crate. Inside were four different-sized balls.

"Right," said Wood. "Now, Quidditch is easy enough to understand, even if it's not too easy to play. There are seven players on each side. Three of them are called Chasers."

"Three Chasers," Harry repeated, as Wood took out a bright red ball about the size of a soccer ball.

"This ball's called the Quaffle," said Wood. "The Chasers throw the Quaffle to each other and try and get it through one of the hoops to score a goal. Ten points every time the Quaffle goes through one of the hoops. Follow me?"

They walked as Wood explained.

"The Chasers throw the Quaffle and put it through the hoops to score," Harry recited. "So — that's sort of like basketball on broomsticks with six hoops, isn't it?"

"What's basketball?" said Wood curiously.

"Yeah by the sounds of it." Alicia nodded to Harry

"Now, there's another player on each side who's called the Keeper — I'm Keeper for Gryffindor. I have to fly around our hoops and stop the other team from scoring."

"You have to guard three hoops?" Alicia asked surprised, she didn't understand how you chose which one to guard.

Wood nodded

"Three Chasers, one Keeper," said Harry, who was determined to remember it all. "And they play with the Quaffle. Okay, got that. So what are they for?" He pointed at the three balls left inside the box.

"I'll show you now," said Wood. "Take this."  
He handed Harry a small club, a bit like a short baseball bat. "Alicia," he handed her another and she looked at it with a smirk.

"I'm going to show you what the Bludgers do," Wood said. "These two are the Bludgers."

He showed them two identical balls, jet black and slightly smaller than the red Quaffle. Harry noticed that they seemed to be straining to escape the straps holding them inside the box.

"Stand back," Wood warned Harry. He bent down and freed one of the Bludgers.

At once, the black ball rose high in the air and then pelted straight at Harry's face. Harry swung at it with the bat to stop it from breaking his nose, and sent it zigzagging away into the air.

"My turn." Alicia grinned before she took a step away for the two and hit it as it returned. It zoomed around their heads and then shot at Wood, who dived on top of it and managed to pin it to the ground.

"See?" Wood panted, forcing the struggling Bludger back into the crate and strapping it down safely. "The Bludgers rocket around, trying to knock players off their brooms. That's why you have two Beaters on each team — the Weasley twins are ours — it's their job to protect their side from the Bludgers and try and knock them toward the other team. So — think you've got all that?"

Alicia looked to Harry.

"Three Chasers try and score with the Quaffle; the Keeper guards the goal posts; the Beaters keep the Bludgers away from their team," Harry reeled off.

"Very good," said Wood.

"Er — have the Bludgers ever killed anyone?" Harry asked, hoping he sounded offhand.

"Never at Hogwarts. We've had a couple of broken jaws but nothing worse than that."

"Have you ever been hit by one?" Alicia wondered

"Too many times." he nodded with a sigh. Alicia and Harry shared a surprised look as Wood continued

"Now, the last member of the team is the Seeker. That's you. And you don't have to worry about the Quaffle or the Bludgers —"

"— unless they crack my head open."

"Don't worry, the Weasleys are more than a match for the Bludgers — I mean, they're like a pair of human Bludgers themselves." Alicia chuckled, that was too true.

Wood reached into the crate and took out the fourth and last ball. Compared with the Quaffle and the Bludgers, it was tiny, about the size of a large walnut. It was bright gold and had little fluttering silver wings.

" _This,_ " said Wood, "is the Golden Snitch, and it's the most important ball of the lot. It's very hard to catch because it's so fast and difficult to see. It's the Seeker's job to catch it. You've got to weave in and out of the Chasers, Beaters, Bludgers, and Quaffle to get it before the other team's Seeker, because whichever Seeker catches the Snitch wins his team an extra hundred and fifty points, so they nearly always win. That's why Seekers get fouled so much. A game of Quidditch only ends when the Snitch is caught, so it can go on for ages — I think the record is three months, they had to keep bringing on substitutes so the players could get some sleep."

"Three months!" Alicia asked shocked "Couldn't they make like a time out and then start again the next day?" she thought. Wood shook his head.

"Jeez…" she muttered

"Well, that's it — any questions?"

Harry shook his head. He understood what he had to do all right, it was doing it that was going to be the problem.

"We won't practice with the Snitch yet," said Wood, carefully shutting it back inside the crate, "it's too dark, we might lose it. Let's try you out with a few of these."

He pulled a bag of ordinary golf balls out of his pocket and a few minutes later, he and Harry were up in the air, Wood throwing the golf balls as hard as he could in every direction for Harry to catch.

Alicia shouted and cheered for him, getting him used to the chatter though one person wasn't nearly the same as an entire crowd.

Harry didn't miss a single golf ball, and Wood was delighted. After half an hour, night had really fallen and they couldn't carry on.

"That Quidditch Cup'll have our name on it this year," said Wood happily as they trudged back up to the castle. "I wouldn't be surprised if you turn out better than Charlie Weasley, and he could have played for England if he hadn't gone off chasing dragons."

"I think Harry's famous enough without needing to be a Quidditch player." Alicia smirked, Harry sighed and she clapped his back in support.

"Can I come and watch your practices Wood?" she asked

"I don't see why not." Alicia beamed.

* * *

Two months flew by and Alicia was surprised everyday by the date. Two months and she knew her way around the majority of the castle, was on top ofs her homework and still managed to squeeze in the Quidditch practice, however because of it, she helped Harry out with his homework as he was more busy then any of them. Much to her delight the lessons were becoming more and more interesting now that they had mastered the basics.

On Halloween morning they woke to the delicious smell of baking pumpkin wafting through the corridors. Even better, Professor Flitwick announced in Charms that he thought they were ready to start making objects fly, something they had all been dying to try since they'd seen him make Neville's toad zoom around the classroom. Professor Flitwick put the class into pairs to practice. Harry's partner was Seamus Finnigan (which was a relief, because Neville had been trying to catch his eye). Alicia was with Dean Thomas but Ron, however, was to be working with Hermione Granger. It was hard to tell whether Ron or Hermione was angrier about this. She hadn't spoken to either of them since the day Harry's broomstick had arrived.

"Now, don't forget that nice wrist movement we've been practicing!" squeaked Professor Flitwick, perched on top of his pile of books as usual. "Swish and flick, remember, swish and flick. And saying the magic words properly is very important, too — never forget Wizard Baruffio, who said 's' instead of 'f' and found himself on the floor with a buffalo on his chest."

The room was filled with wand waving and the words _Wingardium Leviosa_ filled the air. It was very difficult. Harry and Seamus swished and flicked, but the feather they were supposed to be sending skyward just lay on the desktop. Seamus got so impatient that he prodded it with his wand and set fire to it — Harry had to put it out with his hat.

Dean was trying to make the feather fly first before he sighed.

"Shall I?" Alicia wondered. He nodded. She smiled and swished her wand followed by a flick while saying _Wingardium Leviosa._

The feather immediately began to levitate up into the air, the first of any to them and it followed her wand as she moved it from side to side.

"Well done Ms Evans!" Flitwick congratulated happily "Ten points to Gryffindor." Alicia turned to Dean and she took his wand hand and moved it.

"You just have to say the gar in wingardium longer." she said. Dean nodded and he tried it. The feather lifted from the table, didn't go as high but Dean was thrilled.

He continued to do it again and again while Alicia got up and moved to Harry and Seamus who'd been given another feather.

Ron, at the next table after Harry, wasn't having much more luck then Harry himself.

" _Wingardium Leviosa_!" he shouted, waving his long arms like a windmill.

"You're saying it wrong," Hermione snapped. "It's Wing- _gar_ -dium Levi- _o_ -sa, make the 'gar' nice and long."

"Hermione why can't you just suggest guidance instead of criticising him." Alicia said slightly annoyed as to her tone. She directed Seamus in a much nicer way and he managed to make his feather move also.

"You do it, then, if you're so clever," Ron snarled.

Hermione rolled up the sleeves of her gown, flicked her wand, and said, " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

Their feather rose off the desk and hovered about four feet above their heads.

"Oh, well done!" cried Professor Flitwick, clapping. "Everyone see here, Miss Granger's done it!"

Ron was in a very bad mood by the end of the class. Alicia looked around and pointed her wand at the feather which bursted into flames like Seamus' had. Hermione gasped and seemed to get very upset but after seeing the smirk on Alicia's face, she scowled.

It cheered Ron up.

"It's no wonder no one can stand her," he said to Harry as they pushed their way into the crowded corridor, "she's a nightmare, honestly."

Someone knocked into Harry as they hurried past him. It was Hermione. They caught a glimpse of her face to see that she was in tears.

"I think she heard you."

"So?" said Ron, but he looked a bit uncomfortable. "She must've noticed she's got no friends."

"How would you like it if no one like you because you're smart?" Alicia wondered

"You're smart and no one hates you." Ron shrugged

"No one _hates_ Hermione either. She's just worried about being left behind and that's why she wants to prove she can be just as good as a 'pureblood'." she made air quotes with the word.

"Then why are you messing with her?" Ron asked

"Because occasionally she goes about it the wrong way." Alicia admitted with a sigh.

Hermione didn't turn up for the next class and wasn't seen all afternoon. On their way down to the Great Hall for the Halloween feast, Harry, Alicia and Ron overheard Parvati Patil telling her friend Lavender that Hermione was crying in the girls' bathroom and wanted to be left alone. Ron looked still more awkward at this, but a moment later they had entered the Great Hall, where the Halloween decorations put Hermione out of their minds.

A thousand live bats fluttered from the walls and ceiling while a thousand more swooped over the tables in low black clouds, making the candles in the pumpkins stutter. The feast appeared suddenly on the golden plates, as it had at the start-of-term banquet.

Alicia had started on some chicken and Harry was just helping himself to a baked potato when Professor Quirrell came sprinting into the hall, his turban askew and terror on his face. Suddenly everything was silent and everyone stared as he reached Professor Dumbledore's chair, slumped against the table, and gasped, "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."

He then sank to the floor in a dead faint.

There was an uproar. Alicia was too busy sitting in her chair surprised to get up and scream with everyone else. It took several purple firecrackers exploding from the end of Professor Dumbledore's wand to bring silence.

"Prefects," he rumbled, "lead your Houses back to the dormitories immediately!"

Naturally Percy was in his element.

"Follow me! Stick together, first years! No need to fear the troll if you follow my orders! Stay close behind me, now. Make way, first years coming through! Excuse me, I'm a prefect!"

"How could a troll get in?" Harry asked as they climbed the stairs.

"Don't ask me, they're supposed to be really stupid," said Ron. "Maybe Peeves let it in for a Halloween joke."

"Some joke." Alicia rolled her eyes

They passed different groups of people hurrying in different directions. As they jostled their way through a crowd of confused Hufflepuffs, Harry suddenly grabbed both Alicia and Ron's arm.

"I've just thought — Hermione."

"What about her?"

"She doesn't know about the troll." Ron bit his lip.

"Don't you dare think about leaving her." Alicia snapped at him

"Oh, all right," he snapped. "But Percy'd better not see us."

Ducking down, they joined the Hufflepuffs going the other way, slipped down a deserted side corridor, and hurried off toward the girls' bathroom. They had just turned the corner when they heard quick footsteps behind them.

"Percy!" hissed Ron, pulling Harry behind a large stone griffin as Alicia followed quickly.

Peering around it, however, they saw not Percy but Snape. He crossed the corridor and disappeared from view.

"What's he doing?" Harry whispered. "Why isn't he down in the dungeons with the rest of the teachers?"

"Search me."

"This whole mess it rather mysterious…" Alicia thought.

Quietly as possible, they crept along the next corridor after Snape's fading footsteps.

"He's heading for the third floor," Harry said

"With that dog?" Alicia asked surprised, confused as to why he'd want to go near it. Ron held up his hand, not allowing anyone to answer.

"Can you smell something?" Harry and Alicia sniffed and a foul stench reached their nostrils, a mixture of old socks and the kind of public toilet no one seems to clean.

Alicia's robs were over her nose instantly.

And then they heard it — a low grunting, and the shuffling footfalls of gigantic feet. Ron pointed — at the end of a passage to the left, something huge was moving toward them. They shrank into the shadows and watched as it emerged into a patch of moonlight.

It was a horrible sight. Twelve feet tall, its skin was a dull, granite grey, its great lumpy body like a boulder with its small bald head perched on top like a coconut. It had short legs thick as tree trunks with flat, horny feet. The smell coming from it was incredible. It was holding a huge wooden club, which dragged along the floor because its arms were so long.

The troll stopped next to a doorway and peered inside. It waggled its long ears, making up its tiny mind, then slouched slowly into the room.

"The key's in the lock," Harry muttered. "We could lock it in."

"Good idea," said Ron nervously.

They edged toward the open door, mouths dry, praying the troll wasn't about to come out of it. With one great leap, Harry managed to grab the key, slam the door, and lock it.

" _Yes_!"

Alicia didn't cheer as she watched the door while the two boys started to run back up the passage, she looked at the door and realised what it lead too just as a high, petrified scream came from it.

"Oh, no," said Ron, pale as the Bloody Baron.

"It's the girls' bathroom!" Harry gasped.

" _Hermione_!" they said together.

The two boys wheeled around and headed back for the bathroom in time to see Alicia run inside, no bothering to wait for them.

Hermione was shrinking against the wall opposite, looking as if she was about to faint. The troll was advancing on her, knocking the sinks off the walls as it went.

"Confuse it!" Harry said desperately to Ron, and, seizing a tap, he threw it as hard as he could against the wall.

The troll stopped a few feet from Hermione. It lumbered around, blinking stupidly, to see what had made the noise. Its mean little eyes saw Harry. It hesitated, then made for him instead, lifting its club as it went.

"Oy, pea-brain!" yelled Ron from the other side of the chamber, and he threw a metal pipe at it. The troll didn't even seem to notice the pipe hitting its shoulder, but it heard the yell and paused again, turning its ugly snout toward Ron instead, giving Harry time to run around it.

Alicia meanwhile moved to Hermione and helped her to her feet.

"Are you alright?" Hermione didn't answer, she was frozen. Alicia tried to pull her to the door but she wouldn't move.

"Hermione move your ass or you're gonna get us killed!" Alicia snapped. Her shout confused the Troll some more and it turned to them now.

"Oh god." Alicia muttered, she quickly grabbed her wand and she flicked it. To her, and everyone's surprise the troll went flying into the opposite wall, creaking and damaging it badly.

"What was that?" Ron demanded

"Same thing I used on Malfoy in the train." she confessed "I didn't think it'd work on something as big as a troll!" she admitted shocked.

The troll however shook it's head and began to get straight back up again. Alicia tried to pull on Hermione some more to make her work and with Harry's help they moved her halfway before the Troll roared again and started toward Ron, who was nearest and had no way to escape.

"Ron!" Alicia shouted

Harry then did something that was both very brave and very stupid: He took a great running jump and managed to fasten his arms around the troll's neck from behind. The troll couldn't feel Harry hanging there, but even a troll will notice if you stick a long bit of wood up its nose, and Harry's wand had still been in his hand when he'd jumped — it had gone straight up one of the troll's nostrils.

Alicia gapped as, while howling with pain, the troll twisted and flailed its club, with Harry clinging on for dear life; any second, the troll was going to rip him off or catch him a terrible blow with the club.

Hermione had sunk to the floor in fright; Ron pulled out his own wand — not knowing what he was going to do he heard himself cry the first spell that came into his head: " _Wingardium Leviosa_!"

The club flew suddenly out of the troll's hand, rose high, high up into the air, turned slowly over — and dropped, with a sickening crack, onto its owner's head. The troll swayed on the spot and then fell flat on its face, with a thud that made the whole room tremble.

Harry got to his feet. He was shaking and out of breath. Ron was standing there with his wand still raised, staring at what he had done. Alicia was eying the troll on the floor, her mouth still open.

It was Hermione who spoke first.

"Is it — dead?"

"I don't think so," said Harry, as Alicia moved around the troll, looking it over with caution. "I think it's just been knocked out." He bent down and pulled his wand out of the troll's nose. It was covered in what looked like lumpy grey glue.

"Gross." Alicia couldn't help but say.

"Urgh — troll boogers." He wiped it on the troll's trousers.

A sudden slamming and loud footsteps made the three of them look up. They hadn't realised what a racket they had been making, but of course, someone downstairs must have heard the crashes and the troll's roars. A moment later, Professor McGonagall had come bursting into the room, closely followed by Snape, with Quirrell bringing up the rear. Quirrell took one look at the troll, let out a faint whimper, and sat quickly down on a toilet, clutching his heart.

Snape bent over the troll. Professor McGonagall was looking at Ron, Alicia and Harry. Harry had never seen her look so angry. Her lips were white. Hopes of winning fifty points for Gryffindor faded quickly from Harry's mind.

"What on earth were you thinking of?" said Professor McGonagall, with cold fury in her voice. Alicia bit her lip and looked at Harry who turned to Ron, he was still standing with his wand in the air. "You're lucky you weren't killed. Why aren't you in your dormitory?"

Snape gave Harry a swift, piercing look. Harry looked at the floor.

Then a small voice came out of the shadows.

"Please, Professor McGonagall — they were looking for me."

"Miss Granger!"

Hermione had managed to get to her feet at last.

"I went looking for the troll because I — I thought I could deal with it on my own — you know, because I've read all about them." Ron dropped his wand. Hermione Granger, telling a downright lie to a teacher?

Alicia watched her stunned

"If they hadn't found me, I'd be dead now. Alicia sent it smashing into the wall, Harry stuck his wand up its nose and Ron knocked it out with its own club. They didn't have time to come and fetch anyone. It was about to finish me off when they arrived."

Harry and Ron tried to look as though this story wasn't new to them. Alicia looked at Hermione surprised and glanced at McGonagall.

"Well — in that case…" said Professor McGonagall, staring at the four of them, "Miss Granger, you foolish girl, how could you think of tackling a mountain troll on your own?"

Hermione hung her head. Harry was speechless. Hermione was the last person to do anything against the rules, and here she was, pretending she had, to get them out of trouble. It was as if Snape had started handing out sweets.

"Miss Granger, five points will be taken from Gryffindor for this," said Professor McGonagall. "I'm very disappointed in you. If you're not hurt at all, you'd better get off to Gryffindor Tower. Students are finishing the feast in their Houses."

Hermione left.

Professor McGonagall turned to Alicia, Harry and Ron.

"Well, I still say you were lucky, but not many first years could have taken on a full-grown mountain troll. You each win Gryffindor five points. Professor Dumbledore will be informed of this. You may go."

They hurried out of the chamber and didn't speak at all until they had climbed two floors up. It was a relief to be away from the smell of the troll, quite apart from anything else.

"We should have gotten more than fifteen points," Ron grumbled.

"Ten, you mean, once she's taken off Hermione's."

"I don't know, we did kinda scare her…" Alicia reminded him

"Good of her to get us out of trouble like that," Ron admitted. "Mind you, we _did_ save her."

"She might not have needed saving if we hadn't locked the thing in with her," Harry reminded him.

"It could have happened to anyone." Alicia reminded him

They had reached the portrait of the Fat Lady.

"Pig snout," they said and entered.

The common room was packed and noisy. Everyone was eating the food that had been sent up. Hermione, however, stood alone by the door, waiting for them. There was a very embarrassed pause. Alicia looked at them all as the three refused to look at each other. She rolled her eyes

"Are you alright?" she asked. Hermione looked at her and nodded

"Thanks." she said

"Thanks back." Alicia smiled. She looked at the boys and nudged them too. They both uttered a thank you before the three of them ran off to get plates. Alicia huffed but followed, still very hungry herself.

From that moment on, Hermione Granger became their friend. There are some things you can't share without ending up liking each other, and knocking out a twelve-foot mountain troll is one of them.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

The weather began to turn cold as November approached, and with it the spirit of christmas, though still early. The mountains around the school became icy grey and the lake like chilled steel. Every morning the ground was covered in frost. Hagrid could be seen from the upstairs windows defrosting broomsticks on the Quidditch field, bundled up in a long moleskin overcoat, rabbit fur gloves, and enormous beaver-skin boots.

The Quidditch season had begun. On Saturday, Harry was to be playing in his first match after weeks of training: Gryffindor versus Slytherin. If Gryffindor won, they would move up into second place in the House Championship.

Hardly anyone had seen Harry play because Wood had decided that, as their secret weapon, Harry should be kept, well, secret. As Alicia was just as excited to see everyone's faces when he played she was more then happy to keep the secret. But the news that he was playing Seeker had leaked out somehow, and Harry didn't know which was worse — people telling him he'd be brilliant or people telling him they'd be running around underneath him holding a mattress.

Alicia however had said she'd been watching him and he was awesome, as long as he had fun while he was at it there was no reason for him to worry. Who cared what everyone else thought as long as he believed.

It was really lucky that Harry now had Hermione as a friend. She and Alicia had been helping him and he desperately did need it, what with all the last-minute Quidditch practice Wood was making them do. She had also lent him _Quidditch Through the Ages,_ which turned out to be a very interesting read. Naturally of course both Hermione and Alicia had already read it, Alicia was the only person who _always_ understood what Hermione was rambling about.

Harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a Quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a World Cup match in 1473; that Seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that most serious Quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing Quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the Sahara Desert.

Hermione had become a bit more relaxed about breaking rules since Alicia, Harry and Ron had saved her from the mountain troll, and she was much nicer for it. The day before Harry's first Quidditch match the four of them were out in the freezing courtyard during break, and she had conjured them up a bright blue fire that could be carried around in a jam jar. They were standing with their backs to it, getting warm, when Snape crossed the yard. Harry noticed at once that Snape was limping. Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione moved closer together to block the fire from view; they were sure it wouldn't be allowed. Unfortunately, something about their guilty faces caught Snape's eye. He limped over. He hadn't seen the fire, but he seemed to be looking for a reason to tell them off anyway.

"What's that you've got there, Potter?"

It was _Quidditch Through the Ages._ Harry showed him.

"Library books are not to be taken outside the school," said Snape. "Give it to me. Five points from Gryffindor."

"He's just made that rule up," Harry muttered angrily as Snape limped away.

"Course he did, anything to get to you." Alicia rolled her eyes

"Wonder what's wrong with his leg?"

"Dunno, but I hope it's really hurting him," said Ron bitterly.

The Gryffindor common room was very noisy that evening. Harry, Ron, Alicia and Hermione sat together next to a window. Hermione was checking Harry and Ron's Charms homework for them while Alicia read through their history essays. Neither of them would never let them copy, though Alicia was was more lenient then Hermione, but by asking her to read it through, they got the right answers anyway.

Alicia could tell Harry was feeling restless as he fidgeted slightly and kept looking around.

"Harry, you'll be fine, I've watched you practice." Alicia rolled her eyes at him. Harry nodded nervously and sat for a few minutes before he suddenly got up, he told Alicia, Ron and Hermione he was going to ask Snape if he could have his book back.

"Better you than me," they said together. Alicia just rolled her eyes

"Would you like me to come?" she wondered. Harry thought it over and then nodded, and so she got up and followed him out of the porthole.

They made their way down to the staffroom and knocked. There was no answer. He knocked again. Nothing. Harry glanced at Alicia who wrapped her knuckles hard on the door.

Still no answer. Harry suddenly pushed the door ajar and peered inside, Alicia opened her mouth but didn't say anything as she looked in also. A horrible scene met their eyes.

Snape and Filch were inside, alone. Snape was holding his robes above his knees. One of his legs was bloody and mangled. Filch was handing Snape bandages.

"Blasted thing," Snape was saying. "How are you supposed to keep your eyes on all three heads at once?"

Harry tried to shut the door quietly, but —

"POTTER!" He didn't even shout at Alicia but his gaze lingered on her for a while longer, unlike usual where he just ignored her.

Snape's face was twisted with fury as he dropped his robes quickly to hide his leg. Harry gulped.

"I just wondered if I could have my book back."

"GET OUT! _OUT_!"

Harry left, before Snape could take any more points from Gryffindor. He sprinted back upstairs, Alicia close at his heels.

"Did you get it?" Ron asked as Alicia and Harry joined them. "What's the matter?"

"Angry Snape." Alicia said lowly. Hermione and Ron looked at her confused before, in a low whisper, Harry told them what he'd seen.

"You know what this means?" he finished breathlessly. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog at Halloween! That's where he was going when we saw him — he's after whatever it's guarding! And I'd bet my broomstick _he_ let that troll in, to make a diversion!"

Hermione's eyes were wide.

"No — he wouldn't," she said. "I know he's not very nice, but he wouldn't try and steal something Dumbledore was keeping safe."

"Honestly, Hermione, you think all teachers are saints or something," snapped Ron.

"Not all teachers, she just trusts our genius headmaster." Alicia prompted.

"I'm with Harry. I wouldn't put anything past Snape. But what's he after? What's that dog guarding?"

"Probably whatever was in the grubby package." Alicia shrugged.

The next morning dawned very bright and cold. The Great Hall was full of the delicious smell of fried sausages and the cheerful chatter of everyone looking forward to a good Quidditch match.

"You've got to eat some breakfast."

"I don't want anything."

"Just a bit of toast," wheedled Hermione.

"I'm not hungry."

Harry felt terrible. In an hour's time he'd be walking onto the field.

"Harry, you need your strength," said Seamus Finnigan. "Seekers are always the ones who get clobbered by the other team."

"Seamus!" Alicia snapped

"Thanks, Seamus," said Harry, watching Seamus pile ketchup on his sausages.

"Harry, I want you to eat this," Alicia put a piece of toast, some scrambled eggs, and backed beans on his plate. "Or at least some of it." she corrected "If you don't, I'll either slam your face into it or force feed you." Alicia smiled "Because you need energy no matter how nervous you feel."

Harry eyed the food and picked up the toast, he nibbled on it slowly and managed to eat it and a bit of egg before Alicia took his arm.

"Come on." she lead him down to the Quidditch pitch and left him by the change rooms.

"If you're worried just remember. Have fun." she smiled before turning to enter the stands.

By eleven o'clock the whole school seemed to be out in the stands around the Quidditch pitch. Many students had binoculars. The seats might be raised high in the air, but it was still difficult to see what was going on sometimes.

Ron and Hermione joined Neville, Seamus, and Dean the West Ham fan up in the top row where Alicia was waiting. As a surprise for Harry, they had painted a large banner on one of the sheets Scabbers had ruined. It said _Potter for President,_ and Dean, who was good at drawing, had done a large Gryffindor lion underneath. Then Hermione had performed a tricky little charm so that the paint flashed different colours. Alicia had added to it by making the Lion move and roar.

They watched as the Gryffindor team walked out onto the field and the majority of the crowed irrupted up in cheers. Majority of the Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs had joined the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch was refereeing. She stood in the middle of the field waiting for the two teams, her broom in her hand.

"Now, I want a nice fair game, all of you," she said, once they were all gathered around her. The Slytherins had joined the Gryffindors and the Slytherins had irrupted into applause. When Madam Hooch spoke, she seemed to be speaking particularly to the Slytherin Captain, Marcus Flint, a fifth year. Flint looked as if he had some troll blood in him.

Alicia moved her wand to her voice box and muttered " _Soronus"_

"Go Harry!" everyone was silent as her voice sounded as though she had a megaphone, her voice sounding above everyone else. Ron and Hermione, Seamus, Dean and Neville had all covered their ears and Alicia couldn't help but laugh as Harry looked up at them, seeing their flashing _Potter for President_ banner over the crowd.

"Mount your brooms, please."

Harry clambered onto his Nimbus Two Thousand.

Madam Hooch gave a loud blast on her silver whistle.

Fifteen brooms rose up, high, high into the air. They were off.

"And the Quaffle is taken immediately by Angelina Johnson of Gryffindor — what an excellent Chaser that girl is, and rather attractive, too —"

"JORDAN!"

"Sorry, Professor."

The Weasley twins' friend, Lee Jordan, was doing the commentary for the match, closely watched by Professor McGonagall.

"And she's really belting along up there, a neat pass to Alicia Spinnet, a good find of Oliver Wood's, last year only a reserve — back to Johnson and — no, the Slytherins have taken the Quaffle, Slytherin Captain Marcus Flint gains the Quaffle and off he goes — Flint flying like an eagle up there — he's going to sc— no, stopped by an excellent move by Gryffindor Keeper Wood and the Gryffindors take the Quaffle — that's Chaser Katie Bell of Gryffindor there, nice dive around Flint, off up the field and — OUCH — that must have hurt, hit in the back of the head by a Bludger — Quaffle taken by the Slytherins — that's Adrian Pucey speeding off toward the goal posts, but he's blocked by a second Bludger — sent his way by Fred or George Weasley, can't tell which — nice play by the Gryffindor Beater, anyway, and Johnson back in possession of the Quaffle, a clear field ahead and off she goes — she's really flying — dodges a speeding Bludger — the goal posts are ahead — come on, now, Angelina — Keeper Bletchley dives — misses — GRYFFINDORS SCORE!"

Gryffindor cheers filled the cold air, with howls and moans from the Slytherins.

"Budge up there, move along."

"Hagrid!"

Alicia, Ron and Hermione squeezed together to give Hagrid enough space to join them.

"Bin watchin' from me hut," said Hagrid, patting a large pair of binoculars around his neck, "But it isn't the same as bein' in the crowd. No sign of the Snitch yet, eh?"

"Nope," said Ron. "Harry hasn't had much to do yet."

"Kept outta trouble, though, that's somethin'," said Hagrid, raising his binoculars and peering skyward at the speck that was Harry.

"Better that way seeing as the seekers get fouled the most." Alicia remembered.

Way up above them, Harry was gliding over the game, squinting about for some sign of the Snitch. This was part of his and Wood's game plan.

"Keep out of the way until you catch sight of the Snitch," Wood had said. "We don't want you attacked before you have to be." When Angelina had scored, Harry had done a couple of loop-the-loops to let off his feelings. Now he was back to staring around for the Snitch. Other then a bludger that decided to come pelting his way, more like a cannonball than anything, Harry had done well at sticking to Wood's plan.

"All right there, Harry?" Fred had time to yell, as he beat the Bludger furiously toward Marcus Flint.

"Slytherin in possession," Lee Jordan was saying, "Chaser Pucey ducks two Bludgers, two Weasleys, and Chaser Bell, and speeds toward the — wait a moment — was that the Snitch?"

A murmur ran through the crowd as Adrian Pucey dropped the Quaffle, too busy looking over his shoulder at the flash of gold that had passed his left ear.

Harry saw it. In a great rush of excitement he dived downward after the streak of gold. Slytherin Seeker Terence Higgs had seen it, too. Neck and neck they hurtled toward the Snitch — all the Chasers seemed to have forgotten what they were supposed to be doing as they hung in midair to watch.

Harry was faster than Higgs — he could see the little round ball, wings fluttering, darting up ahead — he put on an extra spurt of speed —

WHAM! A roar of rage echoed from the Gryffindors below, Alicia's voice, thanks to her megaphone charm, was the loudest of them all, she only just managed to keep the bad language locked in, remembering the teachers could hear her now also. Marcus Flint had blocked Harry on purpose, and Harry's broom spun off course, Harry holding on for dear life.

"Foul!" screamed the Gryffindors.

Madam Hooch spoke angrily to Flint and then ordered a free shot at the goal posts for Gryffindor. But in all the confusion, of course, the Golden Snitch had disappeared from sight again.

Down in the stands, Dean Thomas was yelling, "Send him off, ref! Red card!"

"What are you talking about, Dean?" said Ron.

"Red card!" said Dean furiously. "In soccer you get shown the red card and you're out of the game!"

"But this isn't soccer, Dean," Ron reminded him.

"Who cares they need a rule like that." Alicia said angrily, the impulse the hex Flint bubbling within her.

Hagrid, however, was on Dean's side.

"They oughta change the rules. Flint coulda knocked Harry outta the air."

Lee Jordan was finding it difficult not to take sides.

"So — after that obvious and disgusting bit of cheating —"

"Jordan!" growled Professor McGonagall.

"I mean, after that open and revolting foul —"

" _Jordan, I'm warning you_ —"

"All right, all right. Flint nearly kills the Gryffindor Seeker, which could happen to anyone, I'm sure, so a penalty to Gryffindor, taken by Spinnet, who puts it away, no trouble, and we continue play, Gryffindor still in possession."

It was as Harry dodged another Bludger, which went spinning dangerously past his head, that Harry noticed his broom give a sudden, frightening lurch.

Alicia slowly stood up as Harry gipped the broom and it happened again. It was as though the broom was trying to buck him off.

Harry tried to turn back toward the Gryffindor goal posts but it seemed like his broom was completely out of his control. He couldn't turn it. He couldn't direct it at all. It was zigzagging through the air, and every now and then making violent swishing movements that almost unseated him.

Lee was still commentating.

"Slytherin in possession — Flint with the Quaffle — passes Spinnet — passes Bell — hit hard in the face by a Bludger, hope it broke his nose — only joking, Professor — Slytherins score — oh no…"

The Slytherins were cheering. No one seemed to have noticed that Harry's broom was behaving strangely. It was carrying him slowly higher, away from the game, jerking and twitching as it went.

Alicia suddenly interrupted Lee's commentary as she shouted "Harry!" in worry.

"Dunno what Harry thinks he's doing," Hagrid mumbled. He stared through his binoculars. "If I didn' know better, I'd say he'd lost control of his broom… but he can't have…"

Suddenly, people were pointing up at Harry all over the stands.

His broom had started to roll over and over, with him only just managing to hold on. Then the whole crowd gasped. Harry's broom had given a wild jerk and Harry swung off it. He was now dangling from it, holding on with only one hand.

"Did something happen to it when Flint blocked him?" Seamus whispered.

"Can't have," Hagrid said, his voice shaking. "Can't nothing interfere with a broomstick except powerful Dark magic — no kid could do that to a Nimbus Two Thousand."

"Someone's jinxed it." Alicia snapped angrily at his words, she turned to Hermione who gasped and seized Hagrid's binoculars, but instead of looking up at Harry, she started looking frantically at the crowd.

"What are you doing?" moaned Ron, grey-faced.

"I knew it," Hermione gasped, "Snape — look."

Ron grabbed the binoculars and with Alicia they looked over to the teachers. Snape was in the middle of the stands opposite them. He had his eyes fixed on Harry and was muttering nonstop under his breath.

"He's doing something — jinxing the broom," said Hermione.

"What should we do?"

"Leave it to me."

Before Ron could say another word, Hermione had disappeared.

Ron turned the binoculars back on Harry.

"Can't you do something?" Ron asked Alicia

"Against Dark magic?" she asked "Ron, I'm a first year!" she said slightly annoyed.

Harry's broom was vibrating so hard, it was almost impossible for him to hang on much longer. The whole crowd was on its feet, watching, terrified, as the Weasleys flew up to try and pull Harry safely onto one of their brooms, but it was no good — every time they got near him, the broom would jump higher still. They dropped lower and circled beneath him, obviously hoping to catch him if he fell. Alicia took out her wand, hoping to help if he did fall off the broom.

Marcus Flint seized the Quaffle and scored five times without anyone noticing.

"Come on, Hermione," Ron muttered desperately.

Hermione had fought her way across to the stand where Snape stood, and was now racing along the row behind him; she didn't even stop to say sorry as she knocked Professor Quirrell headfirst into the row in front. Reaching Snape, she crouched down, pulled out her wand, and whispered a few, well-chosen words. Bright blue flames shot from her wand onto the hem of Snape's robes.

It took perhaps thirty seconds for Snape to realise that he was on fire. A sudden yelp told her she had done her job. Scooping the fire off him into a little jar in her pocket, she scrambled back along the row — Snape would never know what had happened.

It was enough. Up in the air, Harry was suddenly able to clamber back on to his broom.

"Neville, you can look!" Ron said. Neville had been sobbing into Hagrid's jacket for the last five minutes. Alicia let out a large sigh of relief and the grip on her wand loosened.

Harry was speeding toward the ground when the crowd saw him clap his hand to his mouth as though he was about to be sick — he hit the field on all fours — coughed — and something gold fell into his hand.

"I've got the Snitch!" he shouted, waving it above his head

Alice's loud voice sounded over the crowd as she whooped and shouted "He got the snitch!" and the game ended in complete confusion.

"He didn't _catch_ it, he nearly _swallowed_ it," Flint was still howling twenty minutes later, but it made no difference — Harry hadn't broken any rules and Lee Jordan was still happily shouting the results — Gryffindor had won by one hundred and seventy points to sixty. Harry heard none of this, though. He was being made a cup of strong tea back in Hagrid's hut, with Alicia, Ron and Hermione.

"That was brilliant, but god you nearly scared me to death." Alicia admitted

"I don't understand what happened." Harry confessed

"It was Snape," Ron was explaining, "Hermione, Alicia and I saw him. He was cursing your broomstick, muttering, he wouldn't take his eyes off you."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid, who hadn't heard a word of what had gone on next to him in the stands. "Why would Snape do somethin' like that?"

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione looked at one another, wondering what to tell him. Harry decided on the truth.

"I found out something about him," he told Hagrid. "He tried to get past that three-headed dog on Halloween. It bit him. We think he was trying to steal whatever it's guarding."

Hagrid dropped the teapot.

"How do you know about Fluffy?" he said.

" _Fluffy_?"

"Yeah — he's mine — bought him off a Greek chappie I met in the pub las' year — I lent him to Dumbledore to guard the —"

"Yes?" said Harry eagerly.

"Now, don't ask me anymore," said Hagrid gruffly. "That's top secret, that is."

"But Snape's trying to _steal_ it."

"Rubbish," said Hagrid again. "Snape's a Hogwarts teacher, he'd do nothin' of the sort."

"So why did he just try and kill Harry?" cried Hermione. The afternoon's events certainly seemed to have changed her mind about Snape.

"I know a jinx when I see one, Hagrid, I've read all about them! You've got to keep eye contact, and Snape wasn't blinking at all, I saw him!"

"Plus we saw him head to the third floor on halloween, if it's not Snape then why would he be muttering and keeping eye contact with Harry's broom? And why else would he be going to the forbidden corridor when everyone else was in the dungeon?" Alicia questioned

"I'm tellin' yeh, yer wrong!" said Hagrid hotly. "I don' know why Harry's broom acted like that, but Snape wouldn' try an' kill a student! Now, listen to me, all three of yeh — yer meddlin' in things that don' concern yeh. It's dangerous. You forget that dog, an' you forget what it's guardin', that's between Professor Dumbledore an' Nicolas Flamel —"

"Aha!" said Harry, "so there's someone called Nicolas Flamel involved, is there?"

Hagrid looked furious with himself.


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

Christmas was coming. One morning in mid-December, Hogwarts woke to find itself covered in several feet of snow. The lake froze solid and the Weasley twins were punished for bewitching several snowballs so that they followed Quirrell around, bouncing off the back of his turban.

Alicia had immediately placed a taboo on the word 'christmas' so that christmas carols sounded whenever it was said. She had so much fun with it she placed one on the Gryffindor porthole that played music whenever it opened and placed another similar one down in the dungeons to annoy the Slytherins. Unfortunately it might have annoyed Snape a little too much and caused him to remove it. The Weasley Twins thought it was ace.

The few owls that managed to battle their way through the stormy sky to deliver mail had to be nursed back to health by Hagrid before they could fly off again.

No one could wait for the holidays to start. While the Gryffindor common room and the Great Hall had roaring fires, the drafty corridors had become icy and a bitter wind rattled the windows in the classrooms. Worst of all were Professor Snape's classes down in the dungeons, where their breath rose in a mist before them and they kept as close as possible to their hot cauldrons.

"I do feel so sorry," said Draco Malfoy, one Potions class, "for all those people who have to stay at Hogwarts for Christmas because they're not wanted at home."

He was looking over at Harry and Alicia as he spoke. Crabbe and Goyle chuckled. Harry, who was measuring out powdered spine of lion-fish, ignored them, Alicia wasn't as mature and when Snape's back was turned she caused Malfoy's cauldron to catch fire.

Malfoy had been even more unpleasant than usual since the Quidditch match. Disgusted that the Slytherins had lost, he had tried to get everyone laughing at how a wide-mouthed tree frog would be replacing Harry as Seeker next. Then he'd realised that nobody found this funny, because they were all so impressed at the way Harry had managed to stay on his bucking broomstick. So Malfoy, jealous and angry, had gone back to taunting Harry about having no proper family.

It was true that Harry wasn't going back to Privet Drive for Christmas, Alicia had decided to stay also. Professor McGonagall had come around the week before, making a list of students who would be staying for the holidays, and both Alicia and Harry had signed up at once. Harry didn't feel sorry for himself at all; this would probably be the best Christmas he'd ever had. Ron and his brothers were staying, too, because Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were going to Romania to visit Charlie.

When they left the dungeons at the end of Potions, they found a large fir tree blocking the corridor ahead. Two enormous feet sticking out at the bottom and a loud puffing sound told them that Hagrid was behind it.

"Hi, Hagrid, want any help?" Ron asked, sticking his head through the branches.

"Nah, I'm all right, thanks, Ron."

"Would you mind moving out of the way?" came Malfoy's cold drawl from behind them. "Are you trying to earn some extra money, Weasley? Hoping to be gamekeeper yourself when you leave Hogwarts, I suppose — that hut of Hagrid's must seem like a palace compared to what your family's used to."

Ron dived at Malfoy just as Snape came up the stairs.

"WEASLEY!"

Ron let go of the front of Malfoy's robes.

"He was provoked, Professor Snape," said Hagrid, sticking his huge hairy face out from behind the tree. "Malfoy was insultin' his family."

"Be that as it may, fighting is against Hogwarts rules, Hagrid," said Snape silkily. "Five points from Gryffindor, Weasley, and be grateful it isn't more. Move along, all of you."

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle pushed roughly past the tree, scattering needles everywhere and smirking.

Alicia gripped her wand to sent another jinx his way but Harry stopped her as Snape was still within the vicinity.

"I'll get him," said Ron, grinding his teeth at Malfoy's back, "one of these days, I'll get him —"

"I hate them both," said Harry, "Malfoy and Snape."

"Come on, cheer up, it's nearly Christmas," said Hagrid. "Tell yeh what, come with me an' see the Great Hall, looks a treat."

"Yes please!" Alicia agreed much happier.

So the three of them followed Hagrid and his tree off to the Great Hall, where Professor McGonagall and Professor Flitwick were busy with the Christmas decorations.

"Ah, Hagrid, the last tree — put it in the far corner, would you?"

The hall looked spectacular. Festoons of holly and mistletoe hung all around the walls, and no less than twelve towering Christmas trees stood around the room, some sparkling with tiny icicles, some glittering with hundreds of candles.

"How many days you got left until yer holidays?" Hagrid asked.

"Just one," said Hermione. "And that reminds me — Harry, Ron, we've got half an hour before lunch, we should be in the library."

"Oh yeah, you're right," said Ron, tearing his eyes away from Professor Flitwick, who had golden bubbles blossoming out of his wand and was trailing them over the branches of the new tree.

"The library?" said Hagrid, following them out of the hall. "Just before the holidays? Bit keen, aren't yeh?"

"Oh, we're not working," Harry told him brightly. "Ever since you mentioned Nicolas Flamel we've been trying to find out who he is."

"You _what_?" Hagrid looked shocked.

"Probably shouldn't have admitted that." Alicia muttered

"Listen here — I've told yeh — drop it. It's nothin' to you what that dog's guardin'."

"We just want to know who Nicolas Flamel is, that's all," said Hermione.

"Unless you'd like to tell us and save us the trouble?" Harry added. "We must've been through hundreds of books already and we can't find him anywhere — just give us a hint — I know I've read his name somewhere."

"I'm sayin' nothin'," said Hagrid flatly.

"The same way you said you wouldn't tell us anything about it and let his name slip?" Alicia wondered. Hagrid still didn't say anything

"Just have to find out for ourselves, then," said Ron, and they left Hagrid looking disgruntled and hurried off to the library.

They had indeed been searching books for Flamel's name ever since Hagrid had let it slip, because how else were they going to find out what Snape was trying to steal? The trouble was, it was very hard to know where to begin, not knowing what Flamel might have done to get himself into a book. He wasn't in _Great Wizards of the Twentieth Century,_ or _Notable Magical Names of Our Time_ ; he was missing, too, from _Important Modern Magical Discoveries,_ and _A Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry._ And then, of course, there was the sheer size of the library; tens of thousands of books; thousands of shelves; hundreds of narrow rows.

Hermione took out a list of subjects and titles she had decided to search while Ron strode off down a row of books and started pulling them off the shelves at random. Alicia was more organised and grabbed a heap of reference books and sat down to examine them all. Harry wandered over to the Restricted Section. He had been wondering for a while if Flamel wasn't somewhere in there. Unfortunately, you needed a specially signed note from one of the teachers to look in any of the restricted books, and he knew he'd never get one. These were the books containing powerful Dark Magic never taught at Hogwarts, and only read by older students studying advanced Defence Against the Dark Arts.

"What are you looking for, boy?"

"Nothing," said Harry.

Madam Pince the librarian brandished a feather duster at him. "You'd better get out, then. Go on — out!"

Wishing he'd been a bit quicker at thinking up some story,

Harry left the library. He, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione had already agreed they'd better not ask Madam Pince where they could find Flamel. They were sure she'd be able to tell them, but they couldn't risk Snape hearing what they were up to.

Harry waited outside in the corridor to see if the other three had found anything, but he wasn't very hopeful. They had been looking for two weeks, after all, but as they only had odd moments between lessons it wasn't surprising they'd found nothing. What they really needed was a nice long search without Madam Pince breathing down their necks.

Five minutes later, Ron, Alicia and Hermione joined him, shaking their heads. They went off to lunch.

"You will keep looking while I'm away, won't you?" said Hermione. "And send me an owl if you find anything."

"Promise."

"And you could ask your parents if they know who Flamel is," said Ron. "It'd be safe to ask them."

"Very safe, as they're both dentists," said Hermione.

"They'd have no idea of any magical history." Alicia rolled her eyes.

* * *

Once the holidays had started, Alicia, Ron and Harry were having too good a time to think much about Flamel. They had the dormitory, and Alicia had hers, to themselves and the common room was far emptier than usual, so they were able to get the good armchairs by the fire. They sat by the hour eating anything they could spear on a toasting fork — bread, English muffins, marshmallows — and plotting ways of getting Malfoy expelled, which were fun to talk about even if they wouldn't work.

Alicia had been using all kinds of charms to entertain herself, actually she entertain the boys too, like turning her wand into a lighter and playing jokes on the Weasley Twins whenever they entered the common room.

Ron also started teaching Harry wizard chess, with Alicia watching. This was exactly like Muggle chess except that the figures were alive, which made it a lot like directing troops in battle. Ron's set was very old and battered. Like everything else he owned, it had once belonged to someone else in his family — in this case, his grandfather. However, old chessmen weren't a drawback at all. Ron knew them so well he never had trouble getting them to do what he wanted.

Harry played with chessmen Seamus Finnigan had lent him, and they didn't trust him at all. He wasn't a very good player yet and they kept shouting different bits of advice at him, which was confusing. "Don't send me there, can't you see his knight? Send _him,_ we can afford to lose _him._ "

Alicia found it amazing and at one stage had a go against Harry. Harry asked Ron if he could use his set and he'd agreed, so Alicia had used Seamus'. Unlike Harry she got along with the chess pieces for she asked them their opinion and what they thought was best, they argued quite a bit but she got them as well as Ron to teacher her.

She ended up beating Harry proudly.

On Christmas morning Alicia was the first one out of the three to wake. She saw a whole pile of presents at the end of her bed and tried picking them all up but there were a few too many. She used a charm to help her before racing into the boys Dormitory. She didn't even knock as she opened the door.

Both were asleep.

"Ron! Harry! Wake up!" she shouted, her presents dropped onto one of the empty beds and she shook Ronald awake.

"Ron wake up!" he and Harry also both had a stack of presents at the end of their four poster beds and Alicia quickly added hers to the mix.

Ron slowly groaned and opened his eyes

"Merry Christmas!" she beamed happily. Ron suddenly jumped awake and looked around, as though expecting to have woken up in the girls dormitories.

Alicia moved to Harry and shook him also.

"Harry wake up! Wake up! You have presents!" after a few more shakes Harry awoke. He spotted the pile of presents and jumped.

"Merry Christmas," said Ron sleepily as Harry scrambled out of bed and pulled on his bathrobe.

"You, too," said Harry. "Will you look at this? I've got some presents!" Alicia nodded happily

"What did you expect, turnips?" said Ron, turning to his own pile, which was a lot bigger than Harry's.

Harry picked up the top parcel. It was wrapped in thick brown paper and scrawled across it was To Harry, from Hagrid. Inside was a roughly cut wooden flute. Hagrid had obviously whittled it himself. Harry blew it — it sounded a bit like an owl.

A second, very small parcel contained a note.

 _We received your message and enclose your Christmas present. From Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia._ Taped to the note was a fifty-pence piece.

"That's friendly," said Harry.

Ron was fascinated by the fifty pence.

" _Weird_!" he said, "What a shape! This is _money_?"

"You can keep it," said Harry, laughing at how pleased Ron was, Alicia chuckled also as she picked up another parcel, this one was from Hagrid.

It was a big box of chocolate frogs. Hermione had given her a a nice thick book.

"Hagrid and my aunt and uncle — so who sent these?" Harry asked

"I think I know who that one's from," said Ron, turning a bit pink and pointing to a very lumpy parcel. "My mom. I told her you didn't expect any presents and — oh, no," he groaned, "she's made you a Weasley sweater."

Alicia threw a parcel to Ron.

"Is that one the same?" she asked

"Oh not you too." he grumbled. Alicia grabbed the package and ripped it open, it was a jacket, a hood attached and was a lovely shade of purple, some fudge fell out of it. Alicia pulled it on immediately. She beamed

"It's awesome!"

"Well that's better then we get." Ron muttered as Harry had torn open the parcel to find a thick, hand-knitted sweater in emerald green and a large box of homemade fudge.

"Every year she makes us a sweater," said Ron, unwrapping his own, "and mine's _always_ maroon."

"That's really nice of her," said Harry, trying the fudge, which was very tasty.

"I have to get her something in return…" Alicia muttered thinking "Maybe I could sorta make something…"

"Oh no you don't…" Ron began

"Shush, I'm thinking." she cut him off.

Harry's next present also contained candy — a large box of Chocolate Frogs from Hermione and a chess set fell out from Alicia.

"Thanks." he said

"Well, they might be nicer then Seamus'." she smiled

This only left one parcel. Harry picked it up and felt it. It was very light. He unwrapped it.

Something fluid and silvery grey went slithering to the floor where it lay in gleaming folds. Ron gasped.

"I've heard of those," he said in a hushed voice, dropping the box of Every Flavour Beans he'd gotten from Hermione. "If that's what I think it is — they're really rare, and _really_ valuable."

"What is it?"

Harry picked the shining, silvery cloth off the floor. It was strange to the touch, like water woven into material.

"It's an Invisibility Cloak," said Ron, a look of awe on his face. Alicia jumped off the bed.

"No way! Proper ones are extremely expensive and fake ones have all sorts of faults. There aren't many good ones in the entire world." she admitted

"I'm sure it is — try it on." Ron instructed.

Harry threw the cloak around his shoulders and Ron gave a yell while Alicia beamed. "It _is_! Look down!"  
Harry looked down at his feet, but they were gone. He dashed to the mirror. Sure enough, his reflection looked back at him, just his head suspended in midair, his body completely invisible. He pulled the cloak over his head and his reflection vanished completely.

"There's a note!" said Ron suddenly. "A note fell out of it!"

Harry pulled off the cloak and seized the letter. Written in narrow, loopy writing he had never seen before were the following words:

Your father left this in my possession before he died. It is time it was returned to you. Use it well.

A Very Merry Christmas to you.

There was no signature.

"How odd." Alicia mumbled. Harry stared at the note while Ron was admiring the cloak.

"I'd give _anything_ for one of these," he said. " _Anything._ What's the matter?"

"Nothing," said Harry.

Before he could say or think anything else, the dormitory door was flung open and Fred and George Weasley bounded in. Harry stuffed the cloak quickly out of sight. He didn't feel like sharing it with anyone else yet.

"Merry Christmas!"

"Merry christmas." Alicia smirked

"Hey, look — Harry's got a Weasley sweater, too!"

Fred and George were wearing blue sweaters, one with a large yellow F on it, the other a G.  
"Harry's is better than ours, though," said Fred, holding up Harry's sweater. "She obviously makes more of an effort if you're not family."

"Look I got a Weasley jacket." Alicia held her arms out

"A jacket!" Fred admired

"She's even got a hood." and George pulled it over her head. Alicia waved her wand and it began to snow over the two boys who tried to avoid it.

"Alicia stop it." Fred muttered

"She knows more magic then we do." George said annoyed causing the eleven year old to grin.

"Why aren't you wearing yours, Ron?" George demanded as the snow stopped. "Come on, get it on, they're lovely and warm."

"I hate maroon," Ron moaned halfheartedly as he pulled it over his head.

"You haven't got a letter on yours," George observed. "I suppose she thinks you don't forget your name. But we're not stupid — we know we're called Gred and Forge."

Alicia chuckled.

"What's all this noise?"

Percy Weasley stuck his head through the door, looking disapproving. He had clearly gotten halfway through unwrapping his presents as he, too, carried a lumpy sweater over his arm.

"Ms Evans," he began to scold her for being in the boys Dormitories.

"It's Alicia. I have a Weasley sweater now, I'm part of the family, no formalities." she grinned

"Oh great." the twins chorused earning a glare from the girl. They didn't dwell on it as Fred seized Percy's knitted jumper.

"P for prefect! Get it on, Percy, come on, we're all wearing ours, even Alicia and Harry got one."

"I — don't — want —" said Percy thickly, as the twins forced the sweater over his head, knocking his glasses askew.

"And you're not sitting with the prefects today, either," said George. "Christmas is a time for family."

They frog-marched Percy from the room, his arms pinned to his side by his sweater and Alicia laughing her head off.

Neither two orphans had never in all their life had such a Christmas before. But it was the Christmas dinner that stuck out the most. A hundred fat, roast turkeys; mountains of roast and boiled potatoes; platters of chipolatas; tureens of buttered peas, silver boats of thick, rich gravy and cranberry sauce — and stacks of wizard crackers every few feet along the table. These fantastic party favours were nothing like the feeble Muggle ones, with their little plastic toys and their flimsy paper hats inside.

Harry pulled a wizard cracker with Fred and it didn't just bang, it went off with a blast like a cannon and engulfed them all in a cloud of blue smoke, while from the inside exploded a rear admiral's hat and several live, white mice. Alicia had pulled one with Ron and laughed as he jumped away from the table as a couple spiders dressed in santa hats had scurried away.

Up at the High Table, Dumbledore had swapped his pointed wizard's hat for a flowered bonnet, and was chuckling merrily at a joke Professor Flitwick had just read him.

Flaming Christmas puddings followed the turkey. Percy nearly broke his teeth on a silver Sickle embedded in his slice. Harry watched Hagrid getting redder and redder in the face as he called for more wine, finally kissing Professor McGonagall on the cheek, who giggled and blushed, her top hat lopsided.

Alicia and Harry left the table with an assortment of weird things from the crackers like Harry's Grow-Your-Own-Worts and Alicia's mini quidditch pitch with players and even little balls, the tiny snitch almost impossible to see.

Harry, Alicia and the Weasleys spent a happy afternoon having a furious snowball fight on the grounds, Alicia doing the best as she bewitched an entire pile or two to aim like missiles. Then, cold, wet, and gasping for breath, they returned to the fire in the Gryffindor common room, where Harry broke in his new chess set by losing spectacularly to Ron. He suspected he wouldn't have lost so badly if Percy hadn't tried to help him so much.

After a meal of turkey sandwiches, crumpets, trifle, and Christmas cake, everyone felt too full and sleepy to do much before bed except sit and watch Percy chase Fred and George all over Gryffindor Tower because they'd stolen his prefect badge.

Alicia however stayed in the common room as the boys all went to bed. She had her new book in her hand and was lost in it, not noticing the time until footsteps sounded down the spiral staircase.

She stopped and looked up, but no one was there. Alicia sat up, closing the book confused as she slowly grabbed her wand.

" _Homenum Revelio_ "

Harry was suddenly revealed from under his invisibility cloak as he was halfway across the common room. Alicia crossed her arms as Harry realised the clock had been removed and turned to her.

"Where are you going?" she demanded

"Um… I thought I'd use it for the first time…" he muttered

"And do what?" she asked with a sigh

He didn't have an answer. She rolled her eyes and reopened her book

"I feel that you're going to take the fact that you're invisible for granted and end up in serious trouble. Plus you'll be alone and that never helps the worries." She muttered, Harry knew she was right and the thought stopped him. He picked up the cloak and looked towards the door, still wanting to go out an try it.

"Why don't you come with me?" he asked. Alicia looked at him and blinked, he looked reluctant but at the same time, excited.

"Are you sure?" she asked

"This time." he nodded "Next time I go alone."

"Um… alright." she grinned and got up, moving over to him. Being as small as they were both fitted under the clock nicely, and their feet you could not see an inch of.

"Shall we?" Alicia grinned. Harry's excitement was back and they moved to the porthole, moving together and keeping a close eye on the cloak.

"Who's there?" squawked the Fat Lady. Neither said nothing, but just shared a smile. They walked quickly down the corridor.

"Where should we go?" Alicia whispered ever so quietly. She came to a sudden stop as he did, his mind seemed to have hit an idea. He turned to her.

"The Restricted Section in the library." he muttered

"Flamel." she understood.

They set off, drawing the Invisibility Cloak tight around them as they walked.

The library was pitch-black and very eerie. Harry lit a lamp to see his way along the rows of books. The lamp looked as if it was floating along in midair. Alicia thought it was weird, slightly amusing, Harry believed it was creepy.

The Restricted Section was right at the back of the library. Stepping carefully over the rope that separated these books from the rest of the library, Harry held up his lamp to read the titles.

Alicia scanned the titles, the words meaning more to her then they did to Harry, however even she couldn't make out as much as she'd have liked. Their peeling, faded gold letters spelled words in languages Alicia found hard to read. Several books she was able to discard positively, a few she thought wouldn't help, but there were still many books left.

Some had no title at all. One book had a dark stain on it that looked horribly like blood. In the silence you could hear what sounded like faint whispers, something Alicia swore was coming from the the books, as though they knew someone was there who shouldn't be.

Harry was such at a loss with the books he deiced to take a chance, for he set the lamp down carefully on the floor and looked along the bottom shelf for an interesting-looking book. A large black and silver volume caught his eye. He pulled it out with difficulty, because it was very heavy, and, balancing it on his knee, let it fall open.

A piercing, bloodcurdling shriek split the silence — the book was screaming! Alicia grabbed the book and together the two snapped it shut, but the shriek went on and on, one high, unbroken, earsplitting note. Harry stumbled backward and knocked over his lamp, which went out at once. Alicia grabbed the book and shoved it onto the shelf again, coming out from under the clock slightly as Harry stood up. Harry reached out and pulled her under again. Panicking, they heard footsteps coming down the corridor outside, making sure the cloak covered them, the two ran for it.

They passed Filch in the doorway; Filch's pale, wild eyes looked straight through them, and the two slipped under Filch's outstretched arm and streaked off up the corridor, the book's shrieks still ringing in their ears.

Alicia and Harry came to a sudden halt in front of a tall suit of armour. Both had been so busy getting away from the library, neither had paid attention to where they was going.

"I told you." Alicia breathed ever so quietly as they looked around. Perhaps because it was dark, she didn't recognise where they were at all and by the look on his face, Harry didn't either.

"You asked me to come directly to you, Professor, if anyone was wandering around at night, and somebody's been in the library — Restricted Section."

Harry felt the blood drain out of his face while Alicia froze. Wherever they were, Filch must know a shortcut, because his soft, greasy voice was getting nearer, and to their horror, it was Snape who replied,

"The Restricted Section? Well, they can't be far, we'll catch them."

Harry stood rooted to the spot as Filch and Snape came around the corner ahead, Alicia looked around for anywhere they could go, if they ran their feet would make a noise and Snape walked too fast for them to out walk him.

They couldn't see the two, of course, but it was a narrow corridor and if they came much nearer they'd knock right into them — the cloak didn't stop them from being solid.

Harry took Alicia's hand and began to back away as quietly as he could. A door stood ajar to his left and Alicia, without thinking about it, pulled Harry into the room, hardly touching the door as she past. Harry squeezed through too, holding his breath, trying not to move it, and to his relief he managed to get inside the room without their noticing anything.

They walked straight past, and Harry and Alicia leaned against the wall, breathing deeply, listening to their footsteps dying away.

"Thanks for coming." Harry admitted

"Anytime." Alicia nodded.

It was a few seconds before either of them noticed anything about the room they had hidden in.

It looked like an unused classroom. The dark shapes of desks and chairs were piled against the walls, and there was an upturned wastepaper basket — but propped against the wall facing the two was something that didn't look as if it belonged there, something that looked as if someone had just put it there to keep it out of the way.

It was a magnificent mirror, as high as the ceiling, with an ornate gold frame, standing on two clawed feet. There was an inscription carved around the top: _Erised stra ehru oyt ube cafru oyt on wohsi._

Alicia moved forwards first, she ducked out from under the cloak to walk towards it intrigued. She heard Harry follow her as the panic they'd felt was fading.

Alicia, as she couldn't see him suddenly heard Harry gasp and his hands hit his face, as though covering his mouth. She turned and crashed into him as he stood beside her. Alicia grabbed the cloak and pulled it off him to see Harry staring behind him and his face looking paler then it had in the restricted section.

Alicia, confused as to what was wrong, turned back to the mirror. Her eyes widened slightly as she looked into it. There was a whole crowd of people standing right behind her and Harry within the mirror, but the room was empty. Breathing very fast, Harry turned slowly back to the mirror.

Alicia walked towards it in surprise, she wasn't as stunned by a magic mirror as Harry was but she did wish to see who it was she was looking at.

Harry stopped her before she could get too far. She turned to him.

"Do you see them?" he asked. Alicia nodded.

"All the people."

Reflected behind the two were at least ten other people. Harry looked over his shoulder — but still, no one was there. A woman standing right behind Alicia's reflection was smiling at them and waving. Harry reached out a hand and felt the air behind them. If she was really there, he'd touch her, their reflections were so close together, but he felt only air — she and the others existed only in the mirror.

Alicia looked at her face and her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. She was a very pretty woman. She had dark red hair and her eyes…

 _Her eyes are just like mine._ Bright green — exactly the same shade. Harry edged closer to the mirror as Alicia frowned, she didn't understand, she knew this women. Her eyes, nose, chin. Her poster and figure, it was all so familiar.

Alicia's eyes set on herself in the mirror as she looked between herself and the women.

The only difference seemed to be their hair colours.

The tall, thin, black-haired man standing next to her put his arm around her. He wore glasses, and his hair was very untidy. It stuck up at the back, just as Harry's did. Alicia could see the similarities as plain as she could with her and the women.

Harry was so close to the mirror now that his nose was nearly touching that of his reflection.

"Harry." Alicia whispered and he glanced at her through the mirror "There your parents aren't they…" she said, her voice barely breaking the silence. Harry looked at them both

"Mom?" he whispered. "Dad?"

They just looked at him, smiling. And slowly, Harry looked into the faces of the other people in the mirror, and saw other pairs of green eyes like his, other noses like his, even a little old man who looked as though he had Harry's knobbly knees — Harry was looking at his family, for the first time in his life. Even Alicia noticed this, but her eyes kept settling on the women. While Harry seemed to feel some sort of happiness from this, Alicia only frowned in confusion.

The Potters smiled and waved at Harry and he stared hungrily back at them, his hands pressed flat against the glass as though he was hoping to fall right through it and reach them.

How long they stood there, they didn't know. The reflections did not fade and Harry looked and looked until a distant noise brought him back to his senses. They couldn't stay here, both had to find their way back to bed.

Harry tore his eyes away from his mother's face and whispered,

"I'll come back," He grabbed the cloak and stood next to Alicia who kept her eyes on the women before the watery material was thrown over her and she was dragged out of the room by Harry.

* * *

"You could have woken me up," said Ron, crossly.

"You can come tonight, I'm going back, I want to show you the mirror. Alicia you're coming back too right?" Alicia suddenly looked at him, having not really been listening.

"Yeah sure." she muttered before clearing her throat and speaking with more purpose "Do you think we'll all fit under the cloak? It was hard enough last night."

"If we walk slowly we should." Harry nodded

"Then lets hope we don't need to run again." Alicia smiled slightly

"I'd like to see your mom and dad," Ron said eagerly. Alicia was sent into her thoughts again. She didn't understand, why did she look like Harry's mom?

"And I want to see all your family, all the Weasleys, you'll be able to show me your other brothers and everyone."

"You can see them any old time," said Ron. "Just come round my house this summer. Anyway, maybe it only shows dead people. Shame about not finding Flamel, though. Have some bacon or something, why aren't you eating anything?"

Harry had just been staring at his food, Alicia had had her fork in her mouth for the last five minutes as she ate some pancakes, of which she'd touched hardly any of.

"Are you two all right?" said Ron.

"Lost in thoughts…" Alicia muttered slowly with a sigh.

"You look odd." he said to Harry. Alicia turned to him to see a worried expression on Harry's face.

"Worried we wont find it." Alicia said simply "I'm sure we will."

With Ron covered in the cloak, too, they had to walk much more slowly the next night. They tried retracing Alicia and Harry's route from the library, wandering around the dark passageways for nearly an hour.

"I'm freezing," said Ron. "Let's forget it and go back." Alicia was looking around ignoring the two, making sure to keep her ears pealed for any teachers.

" _No_!" Harry hissed. "I know it's here somewhere."

They passed the ghost of a tall witch gliding in the opposite direction, but saw no one else. Just as Ron started moaning that his feet were dead with cold, Harry spotted the suit of armour.

"It's here — just here — yes!"

They pushed the door open. Harry dropped the cloak from around his shoulders and ran to the mirror.

There they were. His mother and father beamed at the sight of him. Alicia saw them from her spot by the door which she'd closed behind them and took a deep breath as a couple turned to her.

"See?" Harry whispered.

"I can't see anything."

"Look! Look at them all… there are loads of them…"

"I can only see you."

"Look in it properly, go on, stand where I am."

Harry stepped aside, but with Ron in front of the mirror, suddenly Harry's family was gone and it was just Ron in his paisley pyjamas. Ron, though, was staring transfixed at his image.

"Look at me!" he said.

"Can you see all your family standing around you?"

"No — I'm alone — but I'm different — I look older — and I'm Head Boy!"

" _What?_ "

"I am — I'm wearing the badge like Bill used to — and I'm holding the House Cup and the Quidditch Cup — I'm Quidditch captain, too!"

Harry turned to Alicia who moved to stand beside Ron. She could only see Ron in the mirror.

"I don't see anything." she admitted confused, how could she see Harry's family but not Ron's dream?

"Ron, may I try something and then you can have the mirror back?" she asked softly. Ron stepped aside and Alicia stood for the first time in front of the mirror.

And Alicia watched as Harry's family returned. Her eyebrows furrowed

"I don't understand," she muttered

"What do you see?" Ron asked excitedly

"Harry's family…" she admitted and Harry stood next to her

"I see them too." Harry beamed

"I don't understand…" she repeated "How come you two see something that makes you happy, and I see Harry's happiness?" She looked away from the mirror and stepped aside, Ron immediately taking her place. He stared at himself with amazement.

Ron tore his eyes away from this splendid sight to look excitedly at Harry.

"Do you think this mirror shows the future?"

"How can it? All my family are dead — let me have another look —"

"You had it to yourself all last night, give me a bit more time."

"You're only holding the Quidditch Cup, what's interesting about that? I want to see my parents."

"Boys!" Alicia hissed glancing at the door at their babbling

"Don't push me —"

A sudden noise outside in the corridor put an end to their discussion. They hadn't realised how loudly they had been talking.

Alicia had grabbed the cloak as Ron said "Quick!"

She threw the cloak back over them as the luminous eyes of Mrs. Norris came round the door. All three stood quite still, all thinking the same thing — did the cloak work on cats? After what seemed an age, she turned and left.

"This isn't safe — she might have gone for Filch, I bet she heard us. Come on."

And Ron pulled Harry out of the room, Alicia following immediately, but glancing back at the mirror with confusion.

The snow still hadn't melted the next morning.

"Want to play chess, Harry?" said Ron.

"No."

"Why don't we go down and visit Hagrid?"

"No… you go…" Ron looked at Alicia who sighed and shook her head, both of them knew what had Harry fixed, it wasn't a very good thing that he wasn't interested in his daily life but only on his past.

"I know what you're thinking about, Harry, that mirror. Don't go back tonight."

"Why not?"

"I dunno, I've just got a bad feeling about it — and anyway, you've had too many close shaves already. Filch, Snape, and Mrs. Norris are wandering around. So what if they can't see you? What if they walk into you? What if you knock something over?"

"You sound like Hermione."

"I'm serious, Harry, don't go."

"It's not going to work Ron." Alicia sighed

"Are you going with him?" Ron asked, Alicia turned to Harry

"Hopefully, I need to figure out what that mirror does, and why it shows me what Harry sees, but not what you see or not even something personal to me." she admitted "If that's alright with Harry."

Harry who would get to see his family either way, nodded.

"It'll be alright." Alicia said to Ron.

That third night they found their way more quickly than before. Harry was walking so fast, the Alicia almost slipped out from under the cloak several times. She knew he knew he was making more noise than was wise, but he didn't seem to care. Luckily, they didn't meet anyone.

And again, there were Harry's mother and father smiling at him again, and one of his grandfathers nodding happily. While Harry sank down to sit on the floor in front of the mirror, Alicia sighed, still standing by the doorway. And it was her that spotted the person sitting by the desk, and her blood ran from her face in worry.  
"So — back again, Harry?" he looked at Alicia and smiled, bringing some assurance back to Alicia as she let out a sigh.  
Albus Dumbledore was watching the two.

Harry walked straight past him, so desperate to get to the mirror he hadn't noticed him.

"I — I didn't see you, sir."

"Strange how nearsighted being invisible can make you," said Dumbledore, and Harry was relieved to see that he was smiling.

"We're sorry sir, we know we're not meant to be here." Alicia whispered. Dumbledore nodded but didn't comment.

"So," he said, slipping off the desk, he took Alicia's hand and walked her to sit on the floor with Harry, "you, like hundreds before you, have discovered the delights of the Mirror of Erised."

"I didn't know it was called that, sir."

"But I expect you've realised by now what it does?"

"It — well — it shows me my family —"

"And it showed your friend Ron himself as Head Boy."

"How did you know — ?"

"I don't need a cloak to become invisible," said Dumbledore gently, Alicia smiled

"Disillusionment Charm." she realised. Dumbledore smiled and her and nodded.

"Very good." he said "Now, can you think what the Mirror of Erised shows us all?"

Harry shook his head and Alicia looked at the mirror when he turned to her.

"Something to do with what we want, our happiness, but a little different." she said. Dumbledore nodded and when she didn't continue he prompted them.

"Let me explain. The happiest man on earth would be able to use the Mirror of Erised like a normal mirror, that is, he would look into it and see himself exactly as he is. Does that help?"

Harry thought. Then he said slowly, "It shows us what we want… whatever we want…"

"Yes and no," said Dumbledore quietly. Alicia though hit an answer.

"It shows us our desires." she muttered. Dumbledore nodded

"The most desperate desire of our hearts. You, who have never known your family, see them standing around you. Ronald Weasley, who has always been overshadowed by his brothers, sees himself standing alone, the best of all of them. However, this mirror will give us neither knowledge or truth. Men have wasted away before it, entranced by what they have seen, or been driven mad, not knowing if what it shows is real or even possible."

Alicia's eyebrows furrowed, it still didn't explain how she saw Harry's desires, and she hadn't missed how Dumbledore hadn't explained.

"The Mirror will be moved to a new home tomorrow, Harry, and I ask you not to go looking for it again. If you ever _do_ run across it, you will now be prepared. It does not do to dwell on dreams and forget to live, remember that. Now, why don't you put that admirable cloak back on and get off to bed?"

Harry stood up, Alicia didn't and Dumbledore turned to her.

"I don't understand," she whispered before turning to him "Why do I see Harry's desires?"

"Because you Ms Evans have the same desire, to know and meet your family, to be surrounded by them." he answered

"But why do I see Harry's? Why not my own family?" she questioned. Dumbledore's eyes twinkled and he looked at both Harry and Alicia's reflections in the mirror.

"What did you notice when you looked in the mirror?" he asked her. Alicia glanced at Harry

"That I looked like his mom." she muttered "Except for my hair." Dumbledore nodded

"The same hair as Harry's dad's, yes?" Alicia's eyes widened at the thought and she looked at Harry who was watching confused.

"But…" she began as Dumbledore smiled "I don't understand…"

"It's a long story of which now is not the time." Dumbledore placed a hand on her shoulder and she looked back at the mirror. She knew what he was implying, but she couldn't picture it.

Harry looked between the two and the mirror, lost by the conversation.

Dumbledore stood and offered a hand to Alicia who took it standing up.

"If you look close enough, you'll notice the similarities." he smiled before patting her back and she walked over to Harry and the cloak, he held it to her.  
"Sir — Professor Dumbledore? Can I ask you something?" Harry said as they reached the door of the room.

"Obviously, you've just done so," Dumbledore smiled. "You may ask me one more thing, however."

"What do you see when you look in the mirror?"

"I? I see myself holding a pair of thick, woollen socks."

Harry stared and Alicia blinked.

"One can never have enough socks," said Dumbledore. "Another Christmas has come and gone and I didn't get a single pair. People will insist on giving me books."

"Then I aspire to get you something like a game, now you've asked you'll probably receive many socks, right Harry?" Alicia asked smiling, trying to hide how her new gained information made her feel.

Dumbledore smiled at her and nodded before the two pulled on the cloak and left the room. Alicia didn't believe what Dumbledore had said, but she didn't expect him to answer a question like that honestly. Like Harry it could have made him see something from his past, who knew what had happened through Dumbledore's life.

Alicia however, as she climbed into bed, couldn't stop thinking about what Dumbledore had said. Was she really related to Harry? If so, why had she not been told?


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Harry didn't go looking for the mirror again, like Dumbledore had asked and the invisibility cloak didn't resurface for the rest of the holidays. Alicia didn't even mention it, she hadn't told Ron about her and Dumbledore's talk but she was sure Harry had consulted him. Whether either were able to understand what they were talking about, though Alicia found it pointed out clearly, was another matter.

Alicia wasn't the only one who couldn't stop thinking about what the mirror had shown her, Harry had begun to have nightmares. He told Ron and Alicia and Ron only had one answer.

"You see, Dumbledore was right, that mirror could drive you mad,"

Hermione was just a lot worse however, she'd returned the day before classes restarted and was torn between horror at the idea of Harry being out of bed, roaming the school three nights in a row ("If Filch had caught you!"), and disappointment that he hadn't at least found out who Nicolas Flamel was. Alicia had tried to get the mirror out of her head and Hermione off her back by spending as much time as possible looking.

They had almost given up hope of ever finding Flamel in a library book, even though Harry was still sure he'd read the name somewhere. Once term had started, they were back to skimming through books for ten minutes during their breaks. Harry had even less time than the other three, because Quidditch practice had started again. Alicia still came during the morning or evening practices, refusing to sit down and read or do nothing as her mind drifted back to the mirror. Or more importantly what she'd seen in it.

Wood was working the team harder than ever. Even the endless rain that had replaced the snow couldn't dampen his spirits. The Weasleys complained that Wood was becoming a fanatic, but Harry was on Wood's side. If they won their next match, against Hufflepuff, they would overtake Slytherin in the House Championship for the first time in seven years. Quite apart from wanting to win, Harry found that he had fewer nightmares when he was tired out after training.

Then, during one particularly wet and muddy practice session, Wood gave the team a bit of bad news. He'd just gotten very angry with the Weasleys, who kept dive-bombing each other and pretending to fall off their brooms.

"Will you stop messing around!" he yelled. "That's exactly the sort of thing that'll lose us the match! Snape's refereeing this time, and he'll be looking for any excuse to knock points off Gryffindor!"

George Weasley really did fall off his broom at these words, however Alicia, being quick and trying to catch Wood's words, used a hover charm to save him.

"Thanks." he muttered before turning back to Wood above them. " _Snape's_ refereeing? When's he ever refereed a Quidditch match? He's not going to be fair if we might overtake Slytherin."

The rest of the team landed next to George to complain, too.

"It's not _my_ fault," said Wood. "We've just got to make sure we play a clean game, so Snape hasn't got an excuse to pick on us."

"Are you kidding? Snape will find the tiniest thing to pick on you for, he might even make a few rules up. Especially it it's to do with Harry." Alicia said, she was frantic. If Snape had tried to kill Harry before, and now he refereeing…

"Alicia, you're not even playing," Wood reminded her

"I might as well be." she grumbled, crossing her arms "I would if I could."

The rest of the team hung back to talk to one another as usual at the end of practice, but Harry and Alicia headed straight back to the Gryffindor common room, where he found Ron and Hermione playing chess. Chess was the only thing Hermione ever lost at, something Harry and Ron thought was very good for her.

"Don't talk to me for a moment," said Ron when Harry sat down next to him, "I need to concen—" He caught sight of Harry and Alicia's faces. "What's the matter with you? You look terrible."

"Snape's refereeing the next Quidditch match." Alicia said ever so quietly but quickly to the two.

"Don't play," said Hermione at once.

"Say you're ill," said Ron.

"Pretend to break your leg," Hermione suggested.

" _Really_ break your leg," said Ron.

"Ron!" Alicia disagreed

"What? Madam Pomfrey will fix it."

"Then it isn't worth trying is it?" she rolled her eyes

"I can't," said Harry. "There isn't a reserve Seeker. If I back out, Gryffindor can't play at all."

"I'm sure Alicia could take your spot." Ron pointed

"What?" Alicia asked shocked "I might know all their training moves but my eyes might not be nearly as good at spotting the snitch!" she said frantically

"Have you spotted it in their training?" Ron asked knowingly. Alicia kept her mouth shut, she'd been proud when she'd been able to spot it from the stands.  
At that moment Neville toppled into the common room. How he had managed to climb through the portrait hole was anyone's guess, because his legs had been stuck together with what they recognised at once as the Leg-Locker Curse. He must have had to bunny hop all the way up to Gryffindor Tower.

Everyone fell over laughing except Alicia and Hermione, the latter leaping up and performed the counter-curse. Neville's legs sprang apart and he got to his feet, trembling.

"What happened?" Hermione asked him, leading him over to sit with Alicia, Harry and Ron.

"Let me guess, Malfoy." Alicia rolled her eyes annoyed. Neville nodded

"I met him outside the library. He said he'd been looking for someone to practice that on."

"Go to Professor McGonagall!" Hermione urged Neville. "Report him!"

Neville shook his head.

"I don't want more trouble," he mumbled.

"You've got to stand up to him, Neville!" said Ron. "He's used to walking all over people, but that's no reason to lie down in front of him and make it easier."

"There's no need to tell me I'm not brave enough to be in Gryffindor, Malfoy's already done that," Neville choked out.

Harry felt in the pocket of his robes and pulled out a Chocolate Frog, the very last one from the box Hermione had given him for Christmas. He gave it to Neville, who looked as though he might cry.

"You're worth twelve of Malfoy," Harry said. "The Sorting Hat chose you for Gryffindor, didn't it? And where's Malfoy? In stinking Slytherin."

"It doesn't make a mistake." Alicia said strongly in agreement "I have a new hex I want to try, if you'd like." Alicia smirked. Then she beamed "I'll teach it to you and you can do it!" Neville looked frightened by the idea, he wasn't all that confident in his skills. But Neville's lips twitched in a weak smile all the same as he unwrapped the frog.

"Thanks, Harry, Alicia… I think I'll go to bed… D'you want the card, you collect them, don't you?"

As Neville walked away, Harry looked at the Famous Wizard card.

"Dumbledore again," he said, "He was the first one I ever —"

He gasped. He stared at the back of the card. Then he looked up at Ron and Hermione.

" _I've found him_!" he whispered. "I've found Flamel! I _told_ you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here — listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the Dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, _and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel_ '!"

Alicia and Hermione shared a knowing look before Hermione jumped to her feet.

"Stay there!" Hermione said, and she sprinted up the stairs to the girls' dormitories. Harry and Ron barely had time to exchange mystified looks and ask Alicia what she was on about before she was dashing back, an enormous old book in her arms.

"I never thought to look in here!" she whispered excitedly. "I got this out of the library weeks ago for a bit of light reading."

" _Light_?" said Ron, but Hermione told him to be quiet until she'd looked something up, and started flicking frantically through the pages, muttering to herself.

At last she found what she was looking for.

"I knew it! I _knew_ it!"

"Why the hell didn't we think of this?" Alicia asked annoyed with herself "It was so obvious."

"Are we allowed to speak yet?" said Ron grumpily. Hermione ignored him.

"Nicolas Flamel," she whispered dramatically, "is the _only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone_!"

This didn't have quite the effect she'd expected and Alicia sighed disappointed.

"The what?" said Harry and Ron.

"Oh, _honestly,_ don't you two read? Look — read that, there." She pushed the book toward them, and Harry and Ron read:

 _The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Philosophers's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal._

 _There have been many reports of the Philosophers's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight)._

"See?" said Hermione, when Harry and Ron had finished. "The dog must be guarding Flamel's Philosopher's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!"

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! _Anyone_ would want it."

"But to do it under Dumbledore's nose?" Alicia wondered

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that _Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry,_ " said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

"Jeez, imagine being that old…" Alicia muttered

* * *

The next morning in Defence Against the Dark Arts, while copying down different ways of treating werewolf bites, Harry and Ron were still discussing what they'd do with a Philosophers's Stone if they had one. It wasn't until Ron said he'd buy his own Quidditch team that Harry remembered about Snape and the coming match.

"I'm going to play," he told Ron, Alicia and Hermione. "If I don't, all the Slytherins will think I'm just too scared to face Snape. I'll show them… it'll really wipe the smiles off their faces if we win."

"Just as long as we're not wiping you off the field," said Hermione.

"We'll just have to think of something in case." Alicia said to Hermione, who nodded determined.

Alicia spent just as much time in the library as they had when looking for Flamel, determined to find something useful just in case. When the match drew near, she was confident and went with Harry to the change rooms before wishing him luck out the front with Ron and Hermione.

The three then found a place in the stands next to Neville, who couldn't understand why they looked so grim and worried, or why they had brought their wands to the match. Little did Harry know that Ron and Hermione had been secretly practicing the Leg-Locker Curse while Alicia had been in the library. They'd gotten the idea from Malfoy using it on Neville, and were ready to use it on Snape if he showed any sign of wanting to hurt Harry.

"Now, don't forget, it's _Locomotor Mortis,_ " Hermione muttered as Ron slipped his wand up his sleeve.

"I _know,_ " Ron snapped. "Don't nag."

"You can't blame her for worrying." Alicia muttered to him, however as she turned back to to the stands, something silvery stood out in the crowd. As she squinted to make it out she noticed it was Dumbledore.

"Hermione, look." and she pointed. Hermione's face was severely relieved at the sight and she grinned, the gloom diminishing. There was no mistaking that silver beard.

"Snape will never try something now." Alicia laughed

"I've never seen Snape look so mean," he told Hermione. "Look — they're off. Ouch!"

Someone had poked Ron in the back of the head. It was Malfoy.

"Oh, sorry, Weasley, didn't see you there."

Malfoy grinned broadly at Crabbe and Goyle.

"Wonder how long Potter's going to stay on his broom this time? Anyone want a bet? What about you, Weasley?"

Ron didn't answer; Snape had just awarded Hufflepuff a penalty because George Weasley had hit a Bludger at him. Hermione, who had all her fingers crossed in her lap, was squinting fixedly at Harry, who was circling the game like a hawk, looking for the Snitch.

"You know how I think they choose people for the Gryffindor team?" said Malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as Snape awarded Hufflepuff another penalty for no reason at all. "It's people they feel sorry for. See, there's Potter, who's got no parents, then there's the Weasleys, who've got no money — you should be on the team, Longbottom, you've got no brains."

Neville went bright red as Alicia gripped her wand angrily. Neville turned in his seat to face Malfoy.

"I'm worth twelve of you, Malfoy," he stammered.

Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle howled with laughter, but Ron, still not daring to take his eyes from the game, said,

"You tell him, Neville."

"Longbottom, if brains were gold you'd be poorer than Weasley, and that's saying something."

Ron's nerves were already stretched to the breaking point with anxiety about Harry while Alicia was about to swing at the pale hard boy before she noticed Harry diving.

"I'm warning you, Malfoy — one more word —"

"Ron!" said Hermione suddenly, "Harry — !"

"What? Where?"

Harry had suddenly gone into a spectacular dive, which drew gasps and cheers from the crowd. Hermione stood up, her crossed fingers in her mouth, as Harry streaked toward the ground like a bullet.

"You're in luck, Weasley, Potter's obviously spotted some money on the ground!" said Malfoy.

Ron snapped, but he wasn't the only one. Before Malfoy knew what was happening Alicia had spun and grabbed his collar before her fist made contact with his nose, a crack sounding through the cheers and blood spilling over his white face. He groaned in pain before Ron was on top of him, wrestling him to the ground. Neville hesitated, then clambered over the back of his seat to help.

"Come on, Harry!" Hermione screamed as Alicia turned back to the game, wiping her knuckles on her robes. Hermione leaped onto her seat, pulling Alicia with her, to watch as Harry sped straight at Snape — she didn't even notice Malfoy and Ron rolling around under her seat, or the scuffles and yelps coming from the whirl of fists that was Neville, Crabbe, and Goyle.

Up in the air, Snape turned on his broomstick just in time to see something scarlet shoot past him, missing him by inches — the next second, Harry had pulled out of the dive, his arm raised in triumph, the Snitch clasped in his hand.

Alicia's wand was to her throat before let out a loud cheer which the Gryffindor's repeated.

The stands erupted; it had to be a record, no one could ever remember the Snitch being caught so quickly.

"Ron! Ron! Where are you? The game's over! Harry's won! We've won! Gryffindor is in the lead!" shrieked Hermione, dancing up and down on her seat and hugging Parvati Patil in the row in front.

Alicia was gone for the stands as Harry jumped off his broom, a foot from the ground. The game was over; it had barely lasted five minutes. As Gryffindors came spilling onto the field, he saw Snape land nearby, white-faced and tight-lipped — then Harry felt a hand on his shoulder and looked up into Dumbledore's smiling face.

"Well done," said Dumbledore quietly, so that only Harry could hear. "Nice to see you haven't been brooding about that mirror… been keeping busy… excellent…"

"Well done Harry!" And Alicia flung her arms around his neck. He noticed the smudged red on her hand and pulled her away to look at it.

"What happened?" he asked. She just laughed.

* * *

Alicia sat at dinner waiting for the Gryffindor star but he didn't turn up.

"Wonder where he is…" she muttered

"Probably at the change rooms still." Ron shrugged

"I wanted to hoist him up again with everyone else and make even more of a scene in front of the Slytherins." Alicia muttered. Ron only grinned, Madam Pomfrey had fixed his nose, which had been bleeding badly after his fight with Malfoy, in a heart beat already.

It wasn't until after dinner that Harry turned up and Hermione jumped him immediately.

"Harry, where have you _been_?" she squeaked.

"You missed dinner," Alicia reminded him

"We won! You won! We won!" shouted Ron, thumping Harry on the back. "And I gave Malfoy a black eye, Alicia gave him a blood nose and Neville tried to take on Crabbe and Goyle single-handed! He's still out cold but Madam Pomfrey says he'll be all right — talk about showing Slytherin! Everyone's waiting for you in the common room, we're having a party, Fred and George stole some cakes and stuff from the kitchens."

"Never mind that now," said Harry breathlessly. "Let's find an empty room, you wait 'til you hear this…"

He made sure Peeves wasn't inside before shutting the door behind them, then he told them about Snape and Quirrell in the Forbidden Forest, Snape threatening the defence against the dark arts teacher about Flamel's Stone.

"So we were right, it _is_ the Philosopher's Stone, and Snape's trying to force Quirrell to help him get it. He asked if he knew how to get past Fluffy — and he said something about Quirrell's 'hocus-pocus' — I reckon there are other things guarding the stone apart from Fluffy, loads of enchantments, probably, and Quirrell would have done some anti-Dark Arts spell that Snape needs to break through —"

"So you mean the Stone's only safe as long as Quirrell stands up to Snape?" said Hermione in alarm.  
"It'll be gone by next Tuesday," said Ron

"We're doomed." Alicia said simply in agreement.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Quirrell, however, must have been braver than they'd thought. In the weeks that followed he did seem to be getting paler and thinner, but it didn't look as though he'd cracked yet.

Every time they passed the third-floor corridor, Harry, Ron, and Hermione would press their ears to the door to check that Fluffy was still growling inside. Snape was sweeping about in his usual bad temper, which surely meant that the Stone was still safe. Whenever Harry passed Quirrell these days he gave him an encouraging sort of smile, and Ron had started telling people off for laughing at Quirrell's stutter.

Hermione and Alicia, however, had more on their minds than the Philosopher's Stone. Hermione had started drawing up study schedules and colour-coding all her notes, she'd even gone as far as to make one for Alicia, who spent a lot of time reading over her notes and rereading books. Harry and Ron wouldn't have minded, but she kept nagging them to do the same.

"Hermione, the exams are ages away."

"Ten weeks," Hermione snapped. "That's not ages, that's like a second to Nicolas Flamel."

"But we're not six hundred years old," Ron reminded her. "Anyway, what are you studying for, you already know it all."

"What am I studying for? Are you crazy? You realise we need to pass these exams to get into the second year? They're very important, I should have started studying a month ago, I don't know what's gotten into me."

"Yeah Hermione you've lost me now." Alicia nodded "A month ago is ridiculous, now, we should start going over everything and in about two weeks get really serious." Alicia said just to keep her happy, she'd then turned to Harry and Ron and said "For her and I though I swear we just need to reread everything and practice a few practicals, you two however should at least be rereading."

"Why?" Ron asked

"Cause I'm gonna kill you if you don't pass and go into your second year with me." she said darkly.

They still didn't take it as seriously.

Unfortunately, the teachers seemed to be thinking along the same lines as Hermione. They piled so much homework on them that the Easter holidays weren't nearly as much fun as the Christmas ones. It was hard to relax with Hermione next to you reciting the twelve uses of dragon's blood or practicing wand movements, at least Alicia did it in silence. Moaning and yawning, Harry and Ron spent most of their free time in the library with the two, trying to get through all their extra work.

* * *

Alicia walked along the shelves of the library, her fingers running along the spine of the books as she read them. Hermione was sitting at a table a little ways off and the boys were taking a 'break'. In other words taking a break of Hermione's constant nagging and probably playing chess.

Alicia bit her lip as she looked over the books before someone came around the corner, obviously immersed in looking for a book for they bumped right into her, causing her to stumble sideways slightly.

She looked up irritatedly before noticing who it was and smirked.

"Well, looking better I see, how's your nose?" she tapped her own as Malfoy sneered at her.

"You'll pay for that Evans." Alicia held her arms out

"Go ahead, I'd love to see you hit a girl." she smirked "Maybe it'll stop those rumours I made about you cowardly ditching out of a wizarding duel." Malfoy glared at her "Or make them worse, Draco Malfoy hit a girl unprovoked." Alicia nodded before she turned back to looking for books and ignoring the boy.

"You better watch it Evans." Malfoy muttered

"Mmm?" Alicia hummed not caring much "What are you going to do?" She pulled a book off the shelf and opened the contents page before moving around the shelves to the other side, Malfoy followed.

"My father is a governor of the school…"

"Who probably can't expel a orphaned girl just because she punched you in the face…" Alicia said smirking slightly "Besides he'd have to get rid of Neville, Ron and your cronies in order to prevent himself from looking biased." Alicia made a fake pout "What would you dow without Crabbe and Goyle now? You'd have no leverage." Malfoy glared and she smiled as she pulled off another book.

"Excuse me, I have some studying to do." and she walked past him and back to Hermione.

A few hours later the boys joined them and Hermione very quickly got to work on getting them organised with their homework.

"I'll never remember this," Ron burst out, throwing down his quill and looking longingly out of the library window. It was the first really fine day they'd had in months. The sky was a clear, forget-me-not blue, and there was a feeling in the air of summer coming.

Harry, who was looking up "Dittany" in _One Thousand Magical Herbs and Fungi,_ didn't look up until he heard Ron say, "Hagrid! What are you doing in the library?"

Hagrid shuffled into view, hiding something behind his back. He looked very out of place in his moleskin overcoat.

Alicia raised an eyebrow and tried to get a look at what he was hiding.

"Jus' lookin'," he said, in a shifty voice that got their interest at once. "An' what're you lot up ter?" He looked suddenly suspicious. "Yer not still lookin' fer Nicolas Flamel, are yeh?"

"Oh, we found out who he is ages ago," said Ron impressively. " _And_ we know what that dog's guarding, it's a Philosopher's St —"

" _Shhhh_!" Hagrid looked around quickly to see if anyone was listening. "Don' go shoutin' about it, what's the matter with yeh?"

"He's right Ron." Alicia muttered

"There are a few things we wanted to ask you, as a matter of fact," said Harry, "about what's guarding the Stone apart from Fluffy —"

"SHHHH!" said Hagrid again. "Listen — come an' see me later, I'm not promisin' I'll tell yeh anythin', mind, but don' go rabbitin' about it in here, students aren' s'pposed ter know. They'll think I've told yeh —"

"You kinda did." Alicia said and Hermione shot her a look

"See you later, then," said Harry.

Hagrid shuffled off.

"What was he hiding behind his back?" said Hermione thoughtfully.

"I was wondering that," Alicia nodded

"Do you think it had anything to do with the Stone?"

"I'm going to see what section he was in," said Ron, who'd had enough of working. He came back a minute later with a pile of books in his arms and slammed them down on the table.

"Dragons!" he whispered. "Hagrid was looking up stuff about dragons! Look at these: Dragon Species of Great Britain and Ireland; From Egg to Inferno, A Dragon Keeper's Guide."

"Oh god, please don't tell me Hagrid has a dragon." Alicia muttered

"Hagrid's always wanted a dragon, he told me so the first time I ever met him," said Harry.

"But it's against our laws," said Ron. "Dragon breeding was outlawed by the Warlocks' Convention of 1709, everyone knows that. Its hard to stop Muggles from noticing us if we're keeping dragons in the back garden — anyway, you can't tame dragons, it's dangerous. You should see the burns Charlie's got off wild ones in Romania."

"But there aren't wild dragons in _Britain_?" said Harry.

"Of course there are," said Ron. "Common Welsh Green and Hebridean Blacks. The Ministry of Magic has a job hushing them up, I can tell you. Our kind have to keep putting spells on Muggles who've spotted them, to make them forget."

"So what on earth's Hagrid up to?" said Hermione.

"He better not have one." Alicia said strongly.

"Where would he get it though?" Hermione asked

"Knowing Hagrid, it wouldn't matter." Alicia sighed.

* * *

When they knocked on the door of the gamekeeper's hut an hour later, they were surprised to see that all the curtains were closed. Hagrid called "Who is it?" before he let them in, and then shut the door quickly behind them.

It was stifling hot inside. Even though it was such a warm day, there was a blazing fire in the grate. Hagrid made them tea and offered them stoat sandwiches, which they refused.

"So — yeh wanted to ask me somethin'?"

"Yes," said Harry. There was no point beating around the bush. "We were wondering if you could tell us what's guarding the Philosopher's Stone apart from Fluffy."

Hagrid frowned at him.

"O' course I can't," he said. "Number one, I don' know meself. Number two, yeh know too much already, so I wouldn' tell yeh if I could. That Stone's here fer a good reason. It was almost stolen outta Gringotts — I s'ppose yeh've worked that out an' all? Beats me how yeh even know abou' Fluffy."

"How do you think we know?" Alicia asked rolling her eyes "We ran into the thing."

"You wha?" Hagrid asked worried

"It was accidental." Alicia assured him with a wave of her hand.

"Oh, come on, Hagrid, you might not want to tell us, but you _do_ know, you know everything that goes on round here," said Hermione in a warm, flattering voice. Hagrid's beard twitched and they could tell he was smiling. "We only wondered who had _done_ the guarding, really." Hermione went on. "We wondered who Dumbledore had trusted enough to help him, apart from you."

Hagrid's chest swelled at these last words. Harry and Ron beamed at Hermione, Alicia giving her a subtle high five under the enormous table.

"Well, I don' s'pose it could hurt ter tell yeh that… let's see… he borrowed Fluffy from me… then some o' the teachers did enchantments… Professor Sprout — Professor Flitwick — Professor McGonagall —" he ticked them off on his fingers, "Professor Quirrell — an' Dumbledore himself did somethin', o' course. Hang on, I've forgotten someone. Oh yeah, Professor Snape."

"Snape?"

"Yeah — yer not still on abou' that, are yeh? Look, Snape helped _protect_ the Stone, he's not about ter steal it."

Alicia's eyes narrowed in thought. If Snape had been in on protecting the Stone, it must have been easy to find out how the other teachers had guarded it. He probably knew everything — except, it seemed, Quirrell's spell and how to get past Fluffy.

"You're the only one who knows how to get past Fluffy, aren't you, Hagrid?" said Harry anxiously. "And you wouldn't tell anyone, would you? Not even one of the teachers?"

"Not a soul knows except me an' Dumbledore," said Hagrid proudly.

"Well, that's something," Harry muttered to the others. "Hagrid, can we have a window open? I'm boiling."

"Can't, Harry, sorry," said Hagrid. Harry noticed him glance at the fire. Harry looked at it, too and Alicia actually rose for her seat.

"Hagrid — what's _that_?" In the very heart of the fire, underneath the kettle, was a huge, black egg.

"Ah," said Hagrid, fiddling nervously with his beard, "That's — er…"

"Where did you get it, Hagrid?" said Ron, crouching over the fire to get a closer look at the egg. "It must've cost you a fortune."

"A better question is why do you have it!?" Alicia hissed standing behind Ron, her arms crossed

"Won it," said Hagrid. "Las' night. I was down in the village havin' a few drinks an' got into a game o' cards with a stranger. Think he was quite glad ter get rid of it, ter be honest."

"But what are you going to do with it when it's hatched?" said Hermione.

"Well, I've bin doin' some readin'," said Hagrid, pulling a large book from under his pillow. "Got this outta the library — _Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit_ — it's a bit outta date, o' course, but it's all in here. Keep the egg in the fire, 'cause their mothers breathe on 'em, see, an' when it hatches, feed it on a bucket o' brandy mixed with chicken blood every half hour. An' see here — how ter recognise diff'rent eggs — what I got there's a Norwegian Ridgeback. They're rare, them."

He looked very pleased with himself, but Hermione and Alicia didn't didn't.

"Hagrid, you live in a _wooden house,_ " Hermione said.

But Hagrid wasn't listening. He was humming merrily as he stoked the fire.

So now they had something else to worry about: what might happen to Hagrid if anyone found out he was hiding an illegal dragon in his hut.

"Wonder what it's like to have a peaceful life," Ron sighed, as evening after evening they struggled through all the extra homework they were getting. Hermione had now started making study schedules for Harry and Ron, too. It was driving them nuts.

"What counts as peaceful?" Alicia questioned.

Then, one breakfast time, Hedwig brought Harry another note from Hagrid. He had written only two words: _It's hatching._

Ron wanted to skip Herbology and go straight down to the hut. Hermione wouldn't hear of it.

"Hermione, how many times in our lives are we going to see a dragon hatching?"

"It's the same as everything else hatching from an egg." Alicia muttered "Plus if it doesn't hatch immediately then we're missing lessons for nothing."

"We've got lessons, we'll get into trouble, and that's nothing to what Hagrid's going to be in when someone finds out what he's doing —"

"Shut up!" Harry whispered.

Malfoy was only a few feet away and he had stopped dead to listen. How much had he

heard? Harry didn't like the look on Malfoy's face at all.

"Eaves dropping Malfoy?" Alicia snapped and the by turned away after shooting her a glare.

Ron and Hermione argued all the way to Herbology and in the end, Hermione agreed to run down to Hagrid's with the other three during morning break. When the bell sounded from the castle at the end of their lesson, the four of them dropped their trowels at once and hurried through the grounds to the edge of the forest. Hagrid greeted them, looking flushed and excited.

"It's nearly out." He ushered them inside.

"See we didn't even miss anything." Alicia smiled

The egg was lying on the table. There were deep cracks in it. Something was moving inside; a funny clicking noise was coming from it.

They all drew their chairs up to the table and watched with bated breath.

All at once there was a scraping noise and the egg split open. The baby dragon flopped onto the table. It wasn't exactly pretty; Harry thought it looked like a crumpled, black umbrella. Its spiny wings were huge compared to its skinny jet body, it had a long snout with wide nostrils, the stubs of horns and bulging, orange eyes.

It sneezed. A couple of sparks flew out of its snout.

"Isn't he _beautiful_?" Hagrid murmured, Alicia raised a disagreeing eyebrow as she glanced at the large man. He reached out a hand to stroke the dragon's head. It snapped at his fingers, showing pointed fangs.

"Bless him, look, he knows his mommy!" said Hagrid.

"Hagrid," said Hermione, "how fast do Norwegian Ridgebacks grow, exactly?"

Hagrid was about to answer when the colour suddenly drained from his face — he leapt to his feet and ran to the window.

"What's the matter?"

"Someone was lookin' through the gap in the curtains — it's a kid — he's runnin' back up ter the school."

Harry bolted to the door and looked out. Even at a distance there was no mistaking him.

Malfoy had seen the dragon.

Alicia cursed something badly, causing Hermione to snap her name at her language.

* * *

Something about the smile lurking on Malfoy's face during the next week made Harry, Ron, and Hermione very nervous. Alicia was just ready to break his entire face instead of just his nose. They spent most of their free time in Hagrid's darkened hut, trying to reason with him.

"Just let him go," Harry urged. "Set him free."

"I can't," said Hagrid. "He's too little. He'd die."

They looked at the dragon. It had grown three times in length in just a week. Smoke kept furling out of its nostrils. Hagrid hadn't been doing his gamekeeping duties because the dragon was keeping him so busy. There were empty brandy bottles and chicken feathers all over the floor.

"I've decided to call him Norbert," said Hagrid, looking at the dragon with misty eyes. "He really knows me now, watch. Norbert! Norbert! Where's Mommy?"

"He's lost his marbles," Ron muttered in Harry's ear.

"Hagrid," said Harry loudly, "give it two weeks and Norbert's going to be as long as your house. Malfoy could go to Dumbledore at any moment."

Hagrid bit his lip.

"I — I know I can't keep him forever, but I can't jus' dump him, can't."

"Then we give him to someone who can look after him." Alicia shrugged

Harry suddenly turned to Ron.

"Charlie," he said.

"You're losing it, too," said Ron. "I'm Ron, remember?" and Alicia laughed

"No — Charlie — your brother, Charlie. In Romania. Studying dragons. We could send Norbert to him. Charlie can take care of him and then put him back in the wild!"

"Brilliant!" said Ron. "How about it, Hagrid?"

And in the end, Hagrid agreed that they could send an owl to Charlie to ask him.

The following week dragged by. Wednesday night found Hermione, Alicia and Harry sitting alone in the common room, long after everyone else had gone to bed. The clock on the wall had just chimed midnight when the portrait hole burst open. Ron appeared out of nowhere as he pulled off Harry's Invisibility Cloak. He had been down at Hagrid's hut, helping him feed Norbert, who was now eating dead rats by the crate.

"It bit me!" he said, showing them his hand, which was wrapped in a bloody handkerchief. "I'm not going to be able to hold a quill for a week. I tell you, that dragon's the most horrible animal I've ever met, but the way Hagrid goes on about it, you'd think it was a fluffy little bunny rabbit. When it bit me he told me off for frightening it. And when I left, he was singing it a lullaby."

"Ron, I highly suggest you do something about your finger, I haven't read anything good about dragon bites." Alicia confessed worrying for the boy as she eyed the bandage.

There was a tap on the dark window.

"Its Hedwig!" said Harry, hurrying to let her in. "She'll have Charlie's answer!"

The three of them put their heads together to read the note while Alicia rolled her eyes and waited for them to finish..

They looked at one another and Alicia took the note

 _Dear Ron,_

 _How are you? Thanks for the letter — I'd be glad to take the Norwegian Ridgeback, but it won't be easy getting him here. I think the best thing will be to send him over with some friends of mine who are coming to visit me next week. Trouble is, they mustn't be seen carrying an illegal dragon._

 _Could you get the Ridgeback up the tallest tower at midnight on Saturday? They can meet you there and take him away while it's still dark._

 _Send me an answer as soon as possible._

 _Love, Charlie_

"Awesome, more nighttime walking." she sighed  
"We've got the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry. "It shouldn't be too difficult — I think the cloak's big enough to cover two of us and Norbert."

"Are you kidding?" Alicia asked "It was hard enough with three of us under the cloak, not to mention a dragon."

"Don't you know some spell that could help then?" Ron asked

"Of course I do, but the teachers can detect spells." Alicia said obviously. "We've had so many close calls even with the cloak, we might not get lucky this time."

It didn't matter what she said, the last week had been that bad that the other two agreed with Harry, deciding to go anyway. Anything to get rid of Norbert — and Malfoy. Alicia sighed and nodded in agreement despite the odds.

There was a hitch. By the next morning, Ron's bitten hand had swollen to twice its usual size. He didn't know whether it was safe to go to Madam Pomfrey — would she recognise a dragon bite? By the afternoon, though, he had no choice. The cut had turned a nasty shade of green. It looked as if Norbert's fangs were poisonous.

Harry and Hermione rushed up to the hospital wing at the end of the day to find Ron in a terrible state in bed.

"It's not just my hand," he whispered, "although that feels like it's about to fall off. Malfoy told Madam Pomfrey he wanted to borrow one of my books so he could come and have a good laugh at me. He kept threatening to tell her what really bit me — I've told her it was a dog, but I don't think she believes me — I shouldn't have hit him at the Quidditch match, that's why he's doing this."

"Don't be ridiculous he deserved that punch. Now he deserves a hex." Alicia hissed

"Alicia!" Hermione said as hexing was against the rules

"What? I've hexed him before." she shrugged

This cheered Ron up a little, but he was still irritated.

"It'll all be over at midnight on Saturday," said Hermione, but this didn't soothe Ron at all. On the contrary, he sat bolt upright and broke into a sweat.

"Midnight on Saturday!" he said in a hoarse voice. "Oh no — oh no — I've just remembered — Charlie's letter was in that book Malfoy took, he's going to know we're getting rid of Norbert."

Alicia's face fell and she smacked her forehead with her hand.

Harry and Hermione didn't get a chance to answer. Madam Pomfrey came over at that moment and made them leave, saying Ron needed sleep.

"It's too late to change the plan now," Harry told Hermione and Alicia. "We haven't got time to send Charlie another owl, and this could be our only chance to get rid of Norbert. We'll have to risk it. And we _have_ got the Invisibility Cloak, Malfoy doesn't know about that."

"No, but he could put someone on the astronomy tower and then Charlie's friend will get caught." Alicia said with a sigh.

There wasn't any other choice despite that.

* * *

They found Fang the boarhound sitting outside with a bandaged tail when they went to tell Hagrid, who opened a window to talk to them.

"I won't let you in," he puffed. "Norbert's at a tricky stage — nothin' I can't handle."

When they told him about Charlie's letter, his eyes filled with tears, although that might have been because Norbert had just bitten him on the leg.

"Aargh! It's all right, he only got my boot — jus' playin' — he's only a baby, after all." Alicia stared at him with a plain expression, not believing he'd say that.

The baby banged its tail on the wall, making the windows rattle. Harry, Alicia and Hermione walked back to the castle feeling Saturday couldn't come quickly enough.

They would have felt sorry for Hagrid when the time came for him to say good-bye to Norbert if they hadn't been so worried about what they had to do. It was a very dark, cloudy night, and they were a bit late arriving at Hagrid's hut because they'd had to wait for Peeves to get out of their way in the entrance hall, where he'd been playing tennis against the wall.

Hagrid had Norbert packed and ready in a large crate.

"He's got lots o' rats an' some brandy fer the journey," said Hagrid in a muffled voice. "An' I've packed his teddy bear in case he gets lonely."

From inside the crate came ripping noises that sounded as though the teddy was having his head torn off.

"Bye-bye, Norbert!" Hagrid sobbed, as Harry, Alicia and Hermione covered the crate with the Invisibility Cloak and stepped underneath it themselves. "Mommy will never forget you!"

How they managed to get the crate back up to the castle, they never knew. Midnight ticked nearer as they heaved Norbert up the marble staircase in the entrance hall and along the dark corridors. Up another staircase, then another — even one of Harry's shortcuts didn't make the work much easier. Alicia had offered a hover charm but Hermione had reminded her that it could rise the cloak to high and what would they do if they crashed into anyone?

"Nearly there!" Harry panted as they reached the corridor beneath the tallest tower.

Then a sudden movement ahead of them made them almost drop the crate. Forgetting that they were already invisible, they shrank into the shadows, staring at the dark outlines of two people grappling with each other ten feet away. A lamp flared.

Professor McGonagall, in a tartan bathrobe and a hair net, had Malfoy by the ear.

"Detention!" she shouted. "And twenty points from Slytherin! Wandering around in the middle of the night, how _dare_ you —"

"You don't understand, Professor. Harry Potter's coming — he's got a dragon!"

"What utter rubbish! How dare you tell such lies! Come on — I shall see Professor Snape about you, Malfoy!"

Alicia had a huge grin on her face as they walked past. In her happiness she'd refused Hermione's warnings and used the Levitation Charm they'd learned in Flitwick's class to get the dragon up the stairs.

Not until they'd stepped out into the cold night air did they throw off the cloak, glad to be able to breathe properly again. Hermione did a sort of jig.

"Malfoy's got detention! I could sing!"

"Don't," Harry advised her.

Chuckling about Malfoy, they waited, Norbert thrashing about in his crate. About ten minutes later, four broomsticks came swooping down out of the darkness.

Charlie's friends were a cheery lot. They showed Harry and Hermione the harness they'd rigged up, so they could suspend Norbert between them. They all helped buckle Norbert safely into it and then Harry and Hermione shook hands with the others and thanked them very much.

At last, Norbert was going… going… _gone._

Harry and Hermione slipped back down the spiral staircase, their hearts as light as their hands, now that Norbert was off them. No more dragon — Malfoy in detention — what could spoil their happiness?

The answer to that was waiting at the foot of the stairs. As they stepped into the corridor, Filch's face loomed suddenly out of the darkness.

"Well, well, well," he whispered, "we _are_ in trouble." They'd left the Invisibility Cloak on top of the tower. Alicia was the only one who'd remembered it and had gone back up halfway, unfortunately, she ran back down without it on and stopped short when she saw Filch facing the two.

"Oh drat." she muttered.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

Things couldn't have been worse.

Filch took them down to Professor McGonagall's study on the first floor, where they sat and waited without saying a word to each other. Hermione was trembling. Alicia just sat annoyed, two minutes and they could have avoided Filch all together. She couldn't see how they were going to get out of trouble this time.

There was no reason on earth that Professor McGonagall would accept for their being out of bed and creeping around the school in the dead of night, let alone being up the tallest Astronomy Tower, which was out-of-bounds except for classes. Add Norbert and the Invisibility Cloak, and they might as well be packing their bags already.

You wouldn't think anything could get worse, until Professor McGonagall appeared leading Neville.

"Harry!" Neville burst out, the moment he saw the other three. "I was trying to find you to warn you, I heard Malfoy saying he was going to catch you, he said you had a drag —"

Harry shook his head violently to shut Neville up, but Professor McGonagall had seen. She looked more likely to breathe fire than Norbert as she towered over the four of them. Alicia ground her teeth in annoyance

"I would never have believed it of any of you. Mr. Filch says you were up in the Astronomy Tower. It's one o'clock in the morning. _Explain yourselves._ "

It was the first time Hermione had ever failed to answer a teacher's question. She was staring at her slippers, as still as a statue.

"I think I've got a good idea of what's been going on," said Professor McGonagall.

"You have no idea." Alicia breathed

"It doesn't take a genius to work it out. You fed Draco Malfoy some cock-and-bull story about a dragon, trying to get him out of bed and into trouble. I've already caught him. I suppose you think it's funny that Longbottom here heard the story and believed it, too?"

Harry caught Neville's eye and tried to tell him without words that this wasn't true, because Neville was looking stunned and hurt. Poor, blundering Neville — They all knew what it must have cost him to try and find them in the dark, to warn them.

Alicia dropped her head onto the table before her in frustration, now Neville was going to hate them.

"I'm disgusted," said Professor McGonagall. "Five students out of bed in one night! I've never heard of such a thing before! You, Miss Granger, Ms Evans I thought you had more sense." Alicia raised an eyebrow and looked a her like she was stupid, Hermione yes, but Alicia's broken the rules plenty of times already. "As for you, Mr. Potter, I thought Gryffindor meant more to you than this. All four of you will receive detentions — yes, you too, Mr. Longbottom, _nothing_ gives you the right to walk around school at night, especially these days, it's very dangerous — and fifty points will be taken from Gryffindor."

Alicia gapped but glared at Harry when he opened his mouth and made it worse.

" _Fifty_?" he gasped — they would lose the lead, the lead he'd won in the last Quidditch match.

"Fifty points _each,_ " said Professor McGonagall, breathing heavily through her long, pointed nose.

"Professor — please —"

"You _can't_ —"

"Don't tell me what I can and can't do, Potter. Now get back to bed, all of you. I've never been more ashamed of Gryffindor students."

Two hundred points lost. That put Gryffindor in last place. In one night, they'd ruined any chance Gryffindor had had for the House Cup.

As they entered the common room Alicia held out Harry's cloak which she'd stuffed into her pocket the second she saw Filch. He put it in his trunk and it wasn't touched again.

At first, Gryffindors passing the giant hourglasses that recorded the House points the next day thought there'd been a mistake. How could they suddenly have a two hundred points fewer than yesterday? And then the story started to spread: Harry Potter, the famous Harry Potter, their hero of two Quidditch matches, had lost them all those points, him and a couple of other stupid first years.

From being one of the most popular and admired people at the school, Harry was suddenly the most hated. Even Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs turned on him, because everyone had been longing to see Slytherin lose the House Cup. Everywhere Harry went, people pointed and didn't trouble to lower their voices as they insulted him. Slytherins, on the other hand, clapped as he walked past them, whistling and cheering, "Thanks Potter, we owe you one!"

Alicia had just ignored everyone irritated, she could have stopped all of it if she'd spoken up to the other two and told them to wait while she got the cloak, then Filch would have never caught them.

"They'll all forget this in a few weeks. Fred and George have lost loads of points in all the time they've been here, and people still like them."

"They've never lost two hundred points in one go, though, have they?" said Harry miserably.

"Well — no," Ron admitted.

"You're not the only one who lost the house points." Alicia reminded him

It was a bit late to repair the damage, but Harry swore to himself not to meddle in things that weren't his business from now on. He'd had it with sneaking around and spying. He felt so ashamed of himself that he went to Wood and offered to resign from the Quidditch team.

" _Resign_?" Wood thundered. "What good'll that do? How are we going to get any points back if we can't win at Quidditch?"

But even Quidditch had lost its fun. The rest of the team wouldn't speak to Harry during practice, and if they had to speak about him, they called him "the Seeker." Alicia had snapped at them all for it but they weren't happy with her either.

Alicia, Hermione and Neville were suffering, too. They didn't have as bad a time as Harry, because they weren't as well-known, but nobody would speak to them, either. Hermione had stopped drawing attention to herself in class, keeping her head down and working in silence.

Alicia had refused to do so, she answered every and any question possible to receive points for the house, using very educated words to help answer and make them more impressive.

They were glad that exams were fast approaching. All the studying they had to do kept their mind off everybody else's hatred for them. Harry, Ron, Alicia, and Hermione kept to themselves, working late into the night, trying to remember the ingredients in complicated potions, learn charms and spells by heart, memorise the dates of magical discoveries and goblin rebellions…

Then, about a week before the exams were due to start, Harry and Alicia were walking back from the library one afternoon. They suddenly heard somebody whimpering from a classroom up ahead and paused, looking at one another to check they'd both heard it. As they drew closer, they heard Quirrell's voice.

"No — no — not again, please —"

It sounded as though someone was threatening him. Harry and Alicia moved closer.

"All right — all right —" he heard Quirrell sob.

Next second, Quirrell came hurrying out of the classroom straightening his turban. He was pale and looked as though he was about to cry. He strode out of sight; Harry didn't think Quirrell had even noticed them. He waited until Quirrell's footsteps had disappeared, then peered into the classroom. It was empty, another door opposite them ajar. Alicia was glancing between Quirrell and the empty classroom in confusion, she hadn't heard any other footsteps or anyone else speak… so who'd he been talking too?

Harry was halfway toward it before he remembered what he'd promised himself about not meddling. Alicia however hadn't and walked straight past and to the door. There was no one in sight.

"He cracked." Harry muttered

"I guess so." Alicia sighed "Now I know you made a resolution but I didn't." and she turned to head back to Ron and Hermione in the library, Harry quickly followed. Hermione was testing Ron on Astronomy when Alicia interrupted and told them what they'd heard.

"Snape's done it, then!" said Ron. "If Quirrell's told him how to break his Anti-Dark Force spell —"

"There's still Fluffy, though," said Hermione.

"Maybe Snape's found out how to get past him without asking Hagrid," said Ron, looking up at the thousands of books surrounding them. "I bet there's a book somewhere in here telling you how to get past a giant three-headed dog. So what do we do, Harry?"

The light of adventure was kindling again in Ron's eyes, but Hermione answered before Harry could.

"Go to Dumbledore. That's what we should have done ages ago. If we try anything ourselves we'll be thrown out for sure."

"But we've got no _proof_!" said Harry. "Quirrell's too scared to back us up. Snape's only got to say he doesn't know how the troll got in at Halloween and that he was nowhere near the third floor — who do you think they'll believe, him or us? It's not exactly a secret we hate him, Dumbledore'll think we made it up to get him sacked." Harry said

"Maybe he wouldn't think that far, and he might actually comprehend what we've told him, but he'll doubt Snape has anything to do with it." Alicia sighed

"Filch wouldn't help us if his life depended on it, he's too friendly with Snape, and the more students get thrown out, the better, he'll think. And don't forget, we're not supposed to know about the Stone or Fluffy. That'll take a lot of explaining." Harry explained

Hermione looked convinced, but Ron didn't.

"If we just do a bit of poking around —"

"No," said Harry flatly, "we've done enough poking around." He pulled a map of Jupiter toward him and started to learn the names of its moons.

Alicia rolled her eyes at Harry.

The following morning, notes were delivered to Harry, Alicia, Hermione, and Neville at the breakfast table. They were all the same:

 _Your detention will take place at eleven o'clock tonight. Meet Mr. Filch in the entrance hall._

"Great, detention with Filch." Alicia muttered. But that was all the complaining that was heard, even Hermione didn't say anything about missing a whole night of studying.

At eleven o'clock that night, they said good-bye to Ron in the common room and went down to the entrance hall with Neville. Filch was already there — and so was Malfoy. Alicia smirked slightly, she had also forgotten that Malfoy had gotten a detention, too.

"Follow me," said Filch, lighting a lamp and leading them outside.

"I bet you'll think twice about breaking a school rule again, won't you, eh?" he said, leering at them. "Oh yes… hard work and pain are the best teachers if you ask me… It's just a pity they let the old punishments die out… hang you by your wrists from the ceiling for a few days, I've got the chains still in my office, keep 'em well oiled in case they're ever needed… Right, off we go, and don't think of running off, now, it'll be worse for you if you do."

They marched off across the dark grounds. Neville kept sniffing. Alicia was acting rather carefree, she just wanted this over, what ever is was though it had Filch in good spirits.

The moon was bright, but clouds scudding across it kept throwing them into darkness. Ahead, Harry could see the lighted windows of Hagrid's hut. Then they heard a distant shout.

"Is that you, Filch? Hurry up, I want ter get started."

Alicia grinned slightly; if they were going to be working with Hagrid it wouldn't be so bad. She wasn't the only one who felt better by this, Harry's face had lightened up

"I suppose you think you'll be enjoying yourself with that oaf?" Filch noticed their change in mood "Well, think again, boy — it's into the forest you're going and I'm much mistaken if you'll all come out in one piece." At this, Neville let out a little moan, and Malfoy stopped dead in his tracks.  
"The forest?" he repeated, and he didn't sound quite as cool as usual. "We can't go in there at night — there's all sorts of things in there — werewolves, I heard."

Neville clutched the sleeve of Harry's robe and made a choking noise.

"That's your problem, isn't it?" said Filch, his voice cracking with glee. "Should've thought of them werewolves before you got in trouble, shouldn't you?"

"Scared Malfoy?" Alicia asked cockily, though the forest was forbidden for a reason, they wouldn't be going in there if they weren't to survive, the teachers weren't nearly as harsh as that, no matter how badly they broke the rules.

Hagrid came striding toward them out of the dark, Fang at his heel. He was carrying his large crossbow, and a quiver of arrows hung over his shoulder.

"Abou' time," he said. "I bin waitin' fer half an hour already. All right, Harry, Alicia, Hermione?"

"I shouldn't be too friendly to them, Hagrid," said Filch coldly, "they're here to be punished, after all."

"That's why yer late, is it?" said Hagrid, frowning at Filch. "Bin lecturin' them, eh? 'Snot your place ter do that. Yeh've done yer bit, I'll take over from here."

"I'll be back at dawn," said Filch, "for what's left of them," he added nastily, and he turned and started back toward the castle, his lamp bobbing away in the darkness.

Malfoy now turned to Hagrid.

"I'm not going in that forest," he said, and Harry was pleased to hear the note of panic in his voice.

"Oh yes you are." Alicia smirked "I'll quite happily _drag_ you in by your robe."

"Yeh are if yeh want ter stay at Hogwarts," said Hagrid fiercely. "Yeh've done wrong an' now yeh've got ter pay fer it."

"But this is servant stuff, it's not for students to do. I thought we'd be copying lines or something, if my father knew I was doing this, he'd —"

"— tell yer that's how it is at Hogwarts," Hagrid growled. "Copyin' lines! What good's that ter anyone? Yeh'll do summat useful or yeh'll get out. If yeh think yer father'd rather you were expelled, then get back off ter the castle an' pack. Go on!"

Malfoy didn't move. He looked at Hagrid furiously, but then dropped his gaze.

"Right then," said Hagrid, "now, listen carefully, 'cause it's dangerous what we're gonna do tonight, an' I don' want no one takin' risks. Follow me over here a moment."

He led them to the very edge of the forest. Holding his lamp up high, he pointed down a narrow, winding earth track that disappeared into the thick black trees. A light breeze lifted their hair as they looked into the forest.

"Look there," said Hagrid, "see that stuff shinin' on the ground? Silvery stuff? That's unicorn blood. There's a unicorn in there bin hurt badly by summat. This is the second time in a week. I found one dead last Wednesday. We're gonna try an' find the poor thing. We might have ter put it out of its misery."

"And what if whatever hurt the unicorn finds us first?" said Malfoy, unable to keep the fear out of his voice.

"You've got a wand don't you?" Alicia asked with a roll of her eyes.

"We're first years." Malfoy reminded her

"You shouldn't let that stop you." Alicia shrugged

"There's nothin' that lives in the forest that'll hurt yeh if yer with me or Fang," said Hagrid. "An' keep ter the path. Right, now, we're gonna split inter two parties an' follow the trail in diff'rent directions. There's blood all over the place, it must've bin staggerin' around since last night at least."

"I want Fang," said Malfoy quickly, looking at Fang's long teeth.

"All right, but I warn yeh, he's a coward," said Hagrid. "So me, Harry, an' Hermione'll go one way an' Alicia, Draco, Neville, an' Fang'll go the other." Hagrid gave Alicia and apologising glance but she just sighed and nodded, understanding. "Now, if any of us finds the unicorn, we'll send up green sparks, right? Get yer wands out an' practice now — that's it — an' if anyone gets in trouble, send up red sparks, an' we'll all come an' find yeh — so, be careful — let's go."

The forest was black and silent. A little way into it they reached a fork in the earth path, and Harry, Hermione, and Hagrid took the left path while Alicia, Malfoy, Neville, and Fang took the right.

Neville clung to Alicia's arm, whimpering slightly as she walked in front of them all, Malfoy sticking close to Fang.

"Alicia… is something…" Neville trembled

"You heard Hagrid, as long as we have Fang the usual creatures of the forest wont hurt us." Alicia said, her eyes scanning the trees "The thing that attacked the unicorn however is another story." she said, eying some more blood on the path.

Neville's grip on her tightened and Alicia sighed. She pulled out her wand.

" _Lumos_." a light sprung from the end of her wand and light up the area around them. Neville's cling loosened ever so slightly now that he could see.

"You're ever so confident…" Malfoy sneered

"Its cause I know how to trust people." Alicia said simply.

There was a snap of a twig and Neville gasped as Alicia stopped and turned to where it had come. Out of the trees walked a centaur.

"Hello," Alicia said politely as Malfoy stepped subtly behind her

"What are you doing out here so late?" he asked. He had blonde hair and a palomino horse body.

"We're looking for a unicorn." Alicia answered politely "Have you seen one?" she wondered. The centaur answered by looking up at the sky.

"Mars is bright tonight." he said, Alicia raised an eyebrow and glanced at Neville, who through his fear, looked confused.

"What does that mean?" Alicia wondered "Does Mar's symbol something?" the centaur looked at her but didn't give an answer. Alicia sighed, apparently it was useless to ask.

"Thanks for your help then." Alicia muttered and walked around him, further down the path. "Useless," Malfoy muttered.

"Just like you." Alicia grinned at him before rolling her eyes and they continued in silence.

Then suddenly Malfoy spoke for the first time. He jumped and grabbed Neville from behind. Neville released Alicia, screamed and sent sparks up with his wand.

Alicia ground her teeth and spun around to Malfoy who was laughing.

" _Tarantallegra_ " Alicia snapped and Malfoy suddenly began to dance uncontrollably. He groaned and gasped, whimpering slightly.

"You stupid idiot! What the hell is wrong with you!?" Alicia snapped "Not only have you frightened Neville even more then he is, you made him shoot red sparks into the air, which means Hagrid's running down here thinking we're in trouble and you've probably bloody scared the entire forest!" She accused.

She was right, a minute later Hagrid came bursting through the trees, his cross bow raised. Neville was curled into a ball by Alicia's legs who was calling Malfoy all sorts of names.

"What happened?" Hagrid demanded

"Malfoy scared Neville and Neville sent sparks up." Alicia said angrily "So I jinxed him." she crossed her arms as they watched Malfoy.

"Alicia," Hagrid said, she looked annoyed but waved her wand and Malfoy stopped, she then turned to Neville.

"It's alright, Neville." she rubbed his back and then helped him to his feet.

"Come on. We're changing groups." Hagrid demanded glaring down at Malfoy. They followed closely behind Hagrid as he left the path, Neville clinging to Alicia sobbing.

Eventually Harry and Hermione came into view, standing on the path in the darkness, Hagrid's lamp and Alicia's wand lighting up the two.

Hagrid was fuming.

"We'll be lucky ter catch anythin' now, with the racket you two were makin'. Right, we're changin' groups — Neville, you stay with me an' Hermione, Harry, you go with Fang, Alicia an' this idiot. I'm sorry," Hagrid added in a whisper to Harry, "but he'll have a harder time frightenin' you, an' we've gotta get this done."

Alicia glared at Malfoy.

"Don't worry, he wont be trying again." Alicia assured.

So Harry set off into the heart of the forest with Alicia, Malfoy and Fang. They walked for nearly half an hour, deeper and deeper into the forest, until the path became almost impossible to follow because the trees were so thick. The blood seemed to get thicker and it occurred more frequently. There were splashes on the roots of a tree, as though the poor creature had been thrashing around in pain close by. A clearing ahead began to form ahead of them through the tangled branches of an ancient oak.

"Look —" Harry murmured as Alicia came to a halt, he held out his arm to stop Malfoy.

Something bright white was gleaming on the ground. They inched closer.

It was the unicorn all right, and it was dead. It was so beautiful and yet so sad all at once. Its long, slender legs were stuck out at odd angles where it had fallen and its mane was spread pearly-white on the dark leaves.

Harry had taken one step toward it before Alicia grabbed and stopped him, having heard something. They were all silent other then Fang's breathing and then a slithering sound reached all their ears.

A bush on the edge of the clearing quivered… Then, out of the shadows, a hooded figure came crawling across the ground like some stalking beast. Harry, Alicia, Malfoy, and Fang stood transfixed. The cloaked figure reached the unicorn, lowered its head over the wound in the animals side, and began to drink its blood.

"AAAAAAAAAAARGH!"

Malfoy let out a terrible scream and bolted — so did Fang. The hooded figure raised its head and looked right at Harry and Alicia — unicorn blood was dribbling down its front. It got to its feet and came swiftly toward Harry — he couldn't move for fear while Alicia just stared, her mouth open in shock.

Harry suddenly staggered backward, his hand on his head, while Alicia kept him from falling over, ignoring the sudden sting that went through her neck. She watched the figure advance on them before she heard hooves behind them, galloping, and something jumped clean over Harry and Alicia, charging at the figure.

Harry suddenly he fell to his knees, a couple of groans escaping his lips and he sucked in a heap of air through his teeth, as though he was in pain. Alicia however watched as the figure turned away from the centaur and then fled through the trees, leaving the pour dead unicorn with blood dripping from it's neck.

The centaur stopped and turned to them, walking until he was standing over them. This one was not the one Alicia had run in to, he had white-blond hair and a palomino body.

"Are you all right?" said the centaur.

"Yes — thank you — what _was_ that?"

"Or who was that?" Alicia muttered

The centaur didn't answer. He had astonishingly blue eyes, like pale sapphires. He looked carefully at Harry, his eyes lingering on the scar that stood out, livid, on Harry's forehead.

"You are the Potter boy," he said. "You had better get back to Hagrid. The forest is not safe at this time — especially for you. Can you ride? It will be quicker this way."

Alicia looked at Harry before she nodded.

"My name is Firenze," he added, as he lowered himself on to his front legs so that Alicia and Harry could clamber onto his back.

"I'm Alicia," she said as she placed her hands around the centaur's waist.

There was suddenly a sound of more galloping from the other side of the clearing. Ronan and Bane came bursting through the trees, their flanks heaving and sweaty.

"Firenze!" Bane thundered. "What are you doing? You have humans on your back! Have you no shame? Are you a common mule?"

"Do you realise who this is?" said Firenze. "This is the Potter boy. The quicker he leaves this forest, the better."  
"What have you been telling him?" growled Bane. "Remember, Firenze, we are sworn not to set ourselves against the heavens. Have we not read what is to come in the movements of the planets?"

Alicia's eyebrows furrowed in confusion… what was to come…?

Ronan pawed the ground nervously.

"I'm sure Firenze thought he was acting for the best," he said in his gloomy voice.

Bane kicked his back legs in anger.

"For the best! What is that to do with us? Centaurs are concerned with what has been foretold! It is not our business to run around like donkeys after stray humans in our forest!"

Firenze suddenly reared on to his hind legs in anger, so that Harry grabbed tightly to Alicia and Alicia tightened her grip on Firenze to stay on.

"Do you not see that unicorn?" Firenze bellowed at Bane. "Do you not understand why it was killed? Or have the planets not let you in on that secret? I set myself against what is lurking in this forest, Bane, yes, with humans alongside me if I must."

And Firenze whisked around; with Alicia and Harry clutching on as best they could, they plunged off into the trees, leaving Ronan and Bane behind them.

Neither Alicia or Harry had a clue what was going on.

"Why's Bane so angry?" Harry asked. "What was that thing you saved me from, anyway?"

Firenze slowed to a walk, warned the two first years to keep their heads bowed in case of low-hanging branches, but did not answer Harry's question. Then, they were passing through a particularly dense patch of trees, however, when Firenze suddenly stopped.

"Harry Potter, do you know what unicorn blood is used for?"

"No," said Harry, startled by the odd question. "We've only used the horn and tail hair in Potions."

"Yes." Alicia muttered and Harry looked at her "And I'm ashamed anyone would even think of doing such a thing." she muttered

"That is because it is a monstrous thing, to slay a unicorn," said Firenze. "Only one who has nothing to lose, and everything to gain, would commit such a crime. The blood of a unicorn will keep you alive, even if you are an inch from death, but at a terrible price. You have slain something pure and defenceless to save yourself, and you will have but a half-life, a cursed life, from the moment the blood touches your lips."

"But who'd be that desperate?" Harry wondered aloud. "If you're going to be cursed forever, death's better, isn't it?"

"It is," Firenze agreed, "unless all you need is to stay alive long enough to drink something else — something that will bring you back to full strength and power — something that will mean you can never die."

"Like an elixir of life." Alicia whispered. Harry looked at her

"Mr. Potter, do you know what is hidden in the school at this very moment?"

"The Philosopher's Stone! Of course — the Elixir of Life! But I don't understand who —"

"Can you think of nobody who has waited many years to return to power, who has clung to life, awaiting their chance?"

"Do you mean," Harry croaked, "that was…"

" _Voldemort._ " Alicia hissed in shock

"Harry! Alicia! Harry, are you all right?"

Hermione was running toward them down the path, Hagrid puffing along behind her.

"I'm fine," said Harry, hardly knowing what he was saying.

"It's alright Hermione, we aren't harmed." Alicia said truthfully.

"The unicorns dead, Hagrid, it's in that clearing back there."

"This is where I leave you," Firenze murmured as Hagrid hurried off to examine the unicorn. "You are safe now."

Harry slid off his back followed by Alicia.

"Thank you." she said

"Good luck, Harry Potter," said Firenze. "The planets have been read wrongly before now, even by centaurs. I hope this is one of those times."

He turned and cantered back into the depths of the forest, leaving Harry shivering behind him.

Having found the unicorn the detention was now over. Alicia and Harry were both deathly silent as they walked back to the castle. Hagrid left them at the entrance hall and Hermione, Harry, Neville and Alicia made their way to the Gryffindor common room. When they got inside, Neville immediately went up to bed.

Ron had fallen asleep in the dark common room, waiting for them to return. He shouted something about Quidditch fouls when Harry roughly shook him awake. In a matter of seconds, though, he was wide-eyed as Harry began to tell him and Hermione what had happened in the forest.

Harry couldn't sit down. He paced up and down in front of the fire. He was still shaking. Alicia was just staring at the fire, not adding in as her thoughts rushed over it.

"Snape wants the Stone for Voldemort… and Voldemort's waiting in the forest… and all this time we thought Snape just wanted to get rich. . . ."

"Stop saying the name!" said Ron in a terrified whisper, as if he thought Voldemort could hear them.

Harry wasn't listening.

"Firenze saved me, but he shouldn't have done so… Bane was furious… he was talking about interfering with what the planets say is going to happen… They must show that Voldemort's coming back… Bane thinks Firenze should have let Voldemort kill me… I suppose that's written in the stars as well."

" _Will you stop saying the name!_ " Ron hissed.

"So all I've got to wait for now is Snape to steal the Stone," Harry went on feverishly, "then Voldemort will be able to come and finish me off… Well, I suppose Bane'll be happy."

"What the hell's wrong with you!" Alicia spoke up "I can't believe you just said that! Do you want Voldemort to kill you? Or try again!?" she snapped

Hermione looked very frightened, but she had a word of comfort.

"Harry, everyone says Dumbledore's the only one You-Know-Who was ever afraid of. With Dumbledore around, You-Know-Who won't touch you. Anyway, who says the centaurs are right? It sounds like fortune-telling to me, and Professor McGonagall says that's a very imprecise branch of magic."

"We don't even know what they said, remember Firenze refused to answer that." Alicia sighed as she stood up.

"I'm going to bed, my minds racing too much," she muttered "See you in the morning." and she left.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

Despite all that was rushing through Alicia's head about Voldemort, Harry's life in possible danger, Snape betraying Dumbledore and above all what she'd seen in the Mirror of Erised, she still managed to study and get through her exams.

She was proud of her written exams, even though it was sweltering hot within the large classroom. They had been given special, new quills for the exams, which had been bewitched with an Anti-Cheating spell.

Alicia found the practical ones exciting. She made the pineapple tap-dance beautifully for Professor Flitwick, transformed a mouse into a lovely snuffbox that gained her twenty house points. She brewed a Forgetfulness potion for Professor Snape perfectly that he didn't even comment as he shooed her from the room.

Their very last exam was History of Magic. One hour of answering questions about batty old wizards who'd invented self-stirring cauldrons and they'd be free, free for a whole wonderful week until their exam results came out. When the ghost of Professor Binns told them to put down their quills and roll up their parchment, everyone cheered.

By the end Alicia was feeling rather over confident and free from the none existent work load.

"That was far easier than I thought it would be," said Hermione as they joined the crowds flocking out onto the sunny grounds.

"I agree, people made such big deal about it." Alicia nodded

"I needn't have learned about the 1637 Werewolf Code of Conduct or the uprising of Elfric the Eager."

"I told you." Alicia rolled her eyes.

Hermione always liked to go through their exam papers afterward, but Ron said this made him feel ill, so they wandered down to the lake and flopped under a tree. The Weasley twins and Lee Jordan were tickling the tentacles of a giant squid, which was basking in the warm shallows.

"No more studying," Ron sighed happily, stretching out on the grass. "You could look more cheerful, Harry, we've got a week before we find out how badly we've done, there's no need to worry yet."

Harry was rubbing his forehead.

"I wish I knew what this _means_!" he burst out angrily. "My scar keeps hurting — it's happened before, but never as often as this."

"Go to Madam Pomfrey," Hermione suggested.

"I'm not ill," said Harry. "I think it's a warning… it means danger's coming…"

"Personally I think it'll have something to do with Voldemort seeing as he's the one who gave it to you and it's been hurting since we saw him." Alicia shrugged lazily

Ron couldn't get worked up, it was too hot.

"Harry, relax, Hermione's right," he ignored Alicia's statement "the Stone's safe as long as Dumbledore's around. Anyway, we've never had any proof Snape found out how to get past Fluffy. He nearly had his leg ripped off once, he's not going to try it again in a hurry. And Neville will play Quidditch for England before Hagrid lets Dumbledore down."

Harry nodded, but he couldn't shake off a lurking feeling that there was something he'd forgotten to do, something important. When he tried to explain this, Hermione said,

"That's just the exams. I woke up last night and was halfway through my Transfiguration notes before I remembered we'd done that one."

"As if," Alicia said laughing.

They laid in the sun happily in silence for a free minute before Harry suddenly jumped to his feet.

"Oh what now?" Alicia asked with a groan, she pulled herself to her feet as Ron asked;

"Where're you going?"

"I've just thought of something," said Harry. He had turned white. "We've got to go and see Hagrid, now." Alicia followed Harry quickly as Ron and Hermione jogged to keep up

"Why?" panted Hermione

"Don't you think it's a bit odd," said Harry, scrambling up the grassy slope, "that what Hagrid wants more than anything else is a dragon, and a stranger turns up who just happens to have an egg in his pocket? How many people wander around with dragon eggs if it's against wizard law? Lucky they found Hagrid, don't you think? Why didn't I see it before?"

"What are you talking about?" said Ron, but Harry, sprinting across the grounds toward the forest, didn't answer.

Alicia on the other hand began to comprehend what he was thinking about her expression turned serious.

Hagrid was sitting in an armchair outside his house; his trousers and sleeves were rolled up, and he was shelling peas into a large bowl.

"Hullo," he said, smiling. "Finished yer exams? Got time fer a drink?"

"Yes, please," said Ron, but Harry cut him off.

"No, we're in a hurry. Hagrid, I've got to ask you something. You know that night you won Norbert? What did the stranger you were playing cards with look like?"

"Dunno," said Hagrid casually, "he wouldn' take his cloak off."

He saw the four of them look stunned and raised his eyebrows.

"You don't know who he was?" Alicia questioned

"It's not that unusual, yeh get a lot o' funny folk in the Hog's Head — that's one o' the pubs down in the village. Mighta bin a dragon dealer, mightn' he? I never saw his face, he kept his hood up."

Harry sank down next to the bowl of peas.

"What did you talk to him about, Hagrid? Did you mention Hogwarts at all?"

"Mighta come up," said Hagrid, frowning as he tried to remember. "Yeah… he asked what I did, an' I told him I was gamekeeper here… He asked a bit about the sorta creatures I look after… so I told him… an' I said what I'd always really wanted was a dragon… an' then… I can' remember too well, 'cause he kept buyin' me drinks…" Alicia groaned and Harry glanced at her "Let's see… yeah, then he said he had the dragon egg an' we could play cards fer it if I wanted… but he had ter be sure I could handle it, he didn' want it ter go ter any old home… So I told him, after Fluffy, a dragon would be easy…" Alicia and Harry shared a started look

"And did he — did he seem interested in Fluffy?" Harry asked, trying to keep his voice calm.

"Well — yeah — how many three-headed dogs d'yeh meet, even around Hogwarts? So I told him, Fluffy's a piece o' cake if yeh know how to calm him down, jus' play him a bit o' music an' he'll go straight off ter sleep —"

Hagrid suddenly looked horrified.

"I shouldn'ta told yeh that!" he blurted out. "Forget I said it! Hey — where're yeh goin'?"

Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione didn't speak to each other at all until they came to a halt in the entrance hall, which seemed very cold and gloomy after the grounds.

"We've got to go to Dumbledore," said Harry. "Hagrid told that stranger how to get past Fluffy, and it was either Snape or Voldemort under that cloak — it must've been easy, once he'd got Hagrid drunk."

"I can't believe he got that careless, why on earth would you tell a stranger you can't see all those things?" Alicia asked

"It wasn't his fault." Hermione remanded

"I know, but…" Alicia took a deep breath

"I just hope Dumbledore believes us." Harry muttered "Firenze might back us up if Bane doesn't stop him. Where's Dumbledore's office?"

They looked around, as if hoping to see a sign pointing them in the right direction. They had never been told where Dumbledore lived, nor did they know anyone who had been sent to see him.

"We'll just have to —" Harry began,

"Ask someone as casually as possible." Alicia cut him off

"And say what?" Ron asked

"I need to talk to him about something personal involving a mirror." Alicia said simply "They wont understand that but Dumbledore will know exactly what I'm on about." she admitted

"But which—" Hermione began, but a voice suddenly rang across the hall.

"What are you four doing inside?"

It was Professor McGonagall, carrying a large pile of books.

"We want to see Professor Dumbledore," said Hermione, rather bravely, Harry and Ron thought.

"See Professor Dumbledore?" Professor McGonagall repeated, as though this was a very fishy thing to want to do. "Why?"

Harry swallowed — now what?

"It's sort of secret," he said, but he wished at once he hadn't, because Professor McGonagall's nostrils flared.

"I need to see him, I spoke to him about something at christmas, and now that exams are over I thought it'd be a good time. It's kinda confusing to explain and I'm not really sure of everything myself." she said and the other three looked at her proudly as McGonagall calmed down a little.

"Professor Dumbledore left ten minutes ago," she said and Alicia's mouth fell open

"He received an urgent owl from the Ministry of Magic and flew off for London at once."

"He's _gone_?" said Harry frantically. " _Now_?"

"Professor Dumbledore is a very great wizard, Potter, he has many demands on his time—"

"But this is important."

"Something you have to say is more important than the Ministry of Magic, Potter?"

"Look," said Harry, throwing caution to the winds, "Professor — it's about the Philosopher's Stone —"

Whatever Professor McGonagall had expected, it wasn't that. The books she was carrying tumbled out of her arms, but she didn't pick them up.

"How do you know — ?" she spluttered.

"Professor, I think — I _know_ — that Sn—" Alicia hit him subtly and he changed his words "that someone's going to try and steal the Stone. I've got to talk to Professor Dumbledore."

She eyed him with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

"Professor Dumbledore will be back tomorrow," she said finally.

"But that's too late." Alicia managed to say

"I don't know how you found out about the Stone, but rest assured, no one can possibly steal it, it's too well protected."

"But Professor —"

"Potter, I know what I'm talking about," she said shortly. She bent down and gathered up the fallen books. "I suggest you all go back outside and enjoy the sunshine."

But they didn't.

"It's tonight," said Harry, once he was sure Professor McGonagall was out of earshot. "Snape's going through the trapdoor tonight. He's found out everything he needs, and now he's got Dumbledore out of the way. He sent that note, I bet the Ministry of Magic will get a real shock when Dumbledore turns up."

"But what can we —"

Hermione gasped. Harry, Alicia and Ron wheeled round.

Snape was standing there.

"Good afternoon," he said smoothly.

They stared at him.

"Afternoon," Alicia said, trying to keep her voice light.

"You shouldn't be inside on a day like this," he said, with an odd, twisted smile.

"We were —" Harry began, without any idea what he was going to say.

"You want to be more careful," said Snape. "Hanging around like this, people will think you're up to something. And Gryffindor really can't afford to lose any more points, can it?"

Alicia sent him a scowl. They turned to go outside, but Snape called them back.

"Be warned, Potter — any more nighttime wanderings and I will personally make sure you are expelled. Good day to you."

He strode off in the direction of the staffroom.

Out on the stone steps, Harry turned to the others.

"Right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "One of us has got to keep an eye on Snape — wait outside the staffroom and follow him if he leaves it. Hermione, you'd better do that."

"Why me?"

"Its obvious," said Ron. "You can pretend to be waiting for Professor Flitwick, you know." He put on a high voice, " 'Oh Professor Flitwick, I'm so worried, I think I got question fourteen _b_ wrong…' "

"Alicia could do that too." Hermione pointed, Alicia scoffed

"Sorry Hermione but it'd be weird if I did that, you're less suspicious." she smirked

"Oh, shut up," said Hermione, but she agreed to go and watch out for Snape.

"And we'd better stay outside the third-floor corridor," Harry told Ron and Alicia. "Come on." Alicia didn't think this was going to be a good idea and she was right. No sooner had they reached the door separating Fluffy from the rest of the school than Professor McGonagall turned up again and this time, she lost her temper.

"I suppose you think you're harder to get past than a pack of enchantments!" she stormed. "Enough of this nonsense! If I hear you've come anywhere near here again, I'll take another fifty points from Gryffindor! Yes, Weasley, from my own House!"

"Well at least she believed us enough to come and check on everything." Alicia shrugged "Obviously she's somewhat worried."

Harry, Alicia and Ron went back to the common room. Harry had just said, "At least Hermione's on Snape's tail," when the portrait of the Fat Lady swung open and Hermione came in.

"I'm sorry, Harry!" she wailed. "Snape came out and asked me what I was doing, so I said I was waiting for Flitwick, and Snape went to get him, and I've only just got away, I don't know where Snape went."

"Well, that's it then, isn't it?" Harry said.

The other two stared at him. He was pale and his eyes were glittering.

"I'm going out of here tonight and I'm going to try and get to the Stone first."

"You're mad!" said Ron.

"You can't!" said Hermione.

"Not on your own your not." Alicia said, getting stunned looks from Hermione and Ron.

"I'm going too." she decided.

"After what McGonagall and Snape have said? You'll both be expelled!" Hermione reminded them

"SO WHAT?" Harry shouted. "Don't you understand? If Snape gets hold of the Stone, Voldemort's coming back! Haven't you heard what it was like when he was trying to take over?"

"People were scared and dying." Alicia emphasised

"There won't be any Hogwarts to get expelled from! He'll flatten it, or turn it into a school for the Dark Arts! Losing points doesn't matter anymore, can't you see? D'you think he'll leave you and your families alone if Gryffindor wins the House Cup? If I get caught before I can get to the Stone, well, I'll have to go back to the Dursleys and wait for Voldemort to find me there, its only dying a bit later than I would have, because I'm never going over to the Dark Side! I'm going through that trapdoor tonight and nothing you two say is going to stop me! Voldemort killed my parents, remember?"

He glared at them.

Alicia turned from Harry to Ron and Hermione as if to say, 'Well?'

"You're right, Harry," said Hermione in a small voice.

"I'll use the Invisibility Cloak," said Harry.

"But will it cover all four of us?" said Ron and Alicia grinned

"All — all four of us?"

"Oh, come off it, you don't think we'd let you go alone?"

"Of course not," said Hermione briskly. "How do you think you'd get to the Stone without us? I'd better go and look through my books, there might be something useful…"

"You'll need to go through the herbology, charms, transfiguration, potions and dark arts. Hagrid said they were the teachers participating." Alicia remembered "I feel getting through Dumbledore's will be the hardest." she said thinking

"But if we get caught, you three will be expelled, too."

"Not if I can help it," said Hermione grimly. "Flitwick told me in secret that I got a hundred and twelve percent on his exam, plus Alicia got one-hundred and fifty. They're not throwing us out after that." Alicia cheered, her fists in the air and her head back with a grin.

"I'm not letting you too out either." she pointed "We've walked the corridors more times without incident then we have with." she smiled.

After dinner the four of them sat nervously apart in the common room. Nobody bothered them; none of the Gryffindors had anything to say to Harry any more, after all. This was the first night he hadn't been upset by it. Hermione was skimming through all her notes, hoping to come across one of the enchantments they were about to try to break. Alicia looked over her shoulder and pointed out powerful tools they should be aware of just incase. Harry and Ron didn't talk much. Both of them were thinking about what they were about to do.

Slowly, the room emptied as people drifted off to bed.

"Better get the cloak," Ron muttered, as Lee Jordan finally left, stretching and yawning. Harry ran upstairs to their dark dormitory.

"We'd better put the cloak on here, and make sure it covers all four of us — if Filch spots one of our feet wandering along on its own…"

"Well if it does a small Disillusionment charm would be okay." Alicia believed

"What are you doing?" said a voice from the corner of the room. Neville appeared from behind an armchair, clutching Trevor the toad, who looked as though he'd been making another bid for freedom.

"Nothing, Neville, nothing," said Harry, hurriedly putting the cloak behind his back.

Neville stared at their guilty faces.

"You're going out again," he said.

"No, no, no," said Hermione. "No, we're not. Why don't you go to bed, Neville?"

Harry looked at the grandfather clock by the door. They couldn't afford to waste any more time, Snape might even now be playing Fluffy to sleep.

"You can't go out," said Neville, "you'll be caught again. Gryffindor will be in even more trouble."

"You don't understand," said Harry, "this is important."

But Neville was clearly steeling himself to do something desperate.

"I won't let you do it," he said, hurrying to stand in front of the portrait hole. "I'll — I'll fight you!"

" _Neville,_ " Ron exploded, "get away from that hole and don't be an idiot —"

"Don't you call me an idiot!" said Neville. "I don't think you should be breaking any more rules! And you were the one who told me to stand up to people!"

"Yes, but not to _us,_ " said Ron in exasperation. "Neville, you don't know what you're doing."

He took a step forward and Neville dropped Trevor the toad, who leapt out of sight.

"Go on then, try and hit me!" said Neville, raising his fists. "I'm ready!"

Harry turned to Hermione and Alicia.

" _Do something,_ " he said desperately. The two girls shared a look

"Body lock." Alicia suggested, her arms crossed over her chest and Hermione stepped forward.

"Neville," she said, "I'm really, really sorry about this."

She raised her wand.

" _Petrificus Totalus_!" she cried, pointing it at Neville.

Neville's arms snapped to his sides. His legs sprang together. His whole body rigid, he swayed where he stood and then fell flat on his face, stiff as a board.

Hermione ran to turn him over. Neville's jaws were jammed together so he couldn't speak. Only his eyes were moving, looking at them in horror.

"What've you done to him?" Harry whispered.

"It's the full Body-Bind," said Hermione miserably. "Oh, Neville, I'm so sorry."

"We had to, Neville, no time to explain," said Harry.

"This is more important then just house points," Alicia muttered

"You'll understand later, Neville," said Ron as they stepped over him and pulled on the Invisibility Cloak.

But leaving Neville lying motionless on the floor didn't feel like a very good omen. In their nervous state, every statue's shadow looked like Filch, every distant breath of wind sounded like Peeves swooping down on them.

At the foot of the first set of stairs, they spotted Mrs. Norris skulking near the top.

"Oh, let's kick her, just this once," Ron whispered in Harry's ear, but Harry shook his head as Alicia hit him. As they climbed carefully around her, Mrs. Norris turned her lamplike eyes on them, but didn't do anything.

They didn't meet anyone else until they reached the staircase up to the third floor. Peeves was bobbing halfway up, loosening the carpet so that people would trip.

"Who's there?" he said suddenly as they climbed toward him. He narrowed his wicked black eyes. "Know you're there, even if I can't see you. Are you ghoulie or ghostie or wee student beastie?"

He rose up in the air and floated there, squinting at them.

"Should call Filch, I should, if something's a-creeping around unseen."

Alicia looked at them all before Harry's expression brightened up.

"Peeves," he said, in a hoarse whisper, "the Bloody Baron has his own reasons for being invisible."

Peeves almost fell out of the air in shock. He caught himself in time and hovered about a foot off the stairs.

"So sorry, your bloodiness, Mr. Baron, sir," he said greasily. "My mistake, my mistake — I didn't see you — of course I didn't, you're invisible — forgive old Peevsie his little joke, sir."

"I have business here, Peeves," croaked Harry. "Stay away from this place tonight."

"I will, sir, I most certainly will," said Peeves, rising up in the air again. "Hope your business goes well, Baron, I'll not bother you."

And he scooted off.

Alicia was trying to hide her laughter, her hand over her face.

" _Brilliant,_ Harry!" whispered Ron.

A few seconds later, they were there, outside the third-floor corridor — and the door was already ajar.

"Well, there you are," Harry said quietly, "Snape's already got past Fluffy."

Harry turned to them under the cloak.

"If you want to go back, I won't blame you," he said. "You can take the cloak, I won't need it now."

"Don't be stupid," said Ron.

"We're coming," said Hermione.

"Lets not waste more time." Alicia muttered and she entered the room first, Hermione closing the door behind them  
As the door creaked, low, rumbling growls met their ears. All three of the dog's noses sniffed madly in their direction, even though it couldn't see them.

"What's that at its feet?" Hermione whispered.

"Looks like a harp," said Ron. "Snape must have left it there."

"It must wake up the moment you stop playing," said Harry.

"Anyone bring some music?" Alicia wondered. Harry brought the flute Hagrid had given him from his pocket and Alicia grinned.

"Well, here goes…"

He put Hagrid's flute to his lips and blew. It wasn't really a tune, but from the first note the beast's eyes began to droop. Harry hardly drew breath. Slowly, the dog's growls ceased — it tottered on its paws and fell to its knees, then it slumped to the ground, fast asleep.

"Keep playing," Ron warned Harry as they slipped out of the cloak and crept toward the trapdoor. They could feel the dog's hot, smelly breath as they approached the giant heads.

"I think we'll be able to pull the door open," said Ron, peering over the dog's back. "Want to go first, Hermione?"

"No, I don't!"

"I'll go first." Alicia said

"All right." Ron nodded and stepped carefully over the dog's legs. He bent and pulled the ring of the trapdoor, which swung up and open.

"What can you see?" Hermione said anxiously.

"Nothing — just black — there's no way of climbing down, we'll just have to drop."

"Well, if I got first I'll cast a hover charm on you all as you come down in case it's deadly on the bottom." Alicia suggested

"What about you?" Hermione asked

"You can cast it one me." she smiled "You know the spell right, it's _Locomotor_." Hermione nodded and Alicia lowered herself into the hole, she saw Harry who was trying to get their attention and she poked her tongue out at him with a grin.

Hermione waved her wand and said the word before Alicia let go. She fell but it was still rather slowly, she saw the ground come closer eventually but there was something off about it.

"Alright slow down." Alicia said up the hole, knowing the darkness would carry her voice. She knew Hermione heard her for she touched down ever so softly. Alicia looked around before she suddenly gasped and ran to the wall.

"It's alright." she called. She listened as the flute stopped for a second and then continued before Harry's mumbles were heard. She took her wand out as Harry lowered into the hole and then released the trap door.

Alicia flicked her wand and Harry lowered slowly onto the floor.

"Quick come here!" she said waving her hand but Harry wasn't listening, he was looking around at the plant he was standing on before looking up to the trap door.

"It's okay!" he called up to the light the size of a postage stamp "it's a soft landing, you can jump!"

Ron followed right away. He landed, softly with Alicia's help. "What's this stuff?" were his first words.

"Don't mind that!" Alicia snapped, trying to get them to accompany her by the wall. "Come here!"

"Dunno, some sort of plant thing. I suppose it's here to break the fall. Come on, Hermione!"

The distant music stopped. There was a loud bark from the dog, but Hermione had already jumped. She landed on Harry's other side with Alicia flicking her wand.

"We must be miles under the school," she said.

"Lucky this plant thing's here, really," said Ron.

" _Lucky_!" shrieked Hermione. "Look at you both!"

She struggled toward a damp wall where Alicia stood. She had to struggle because the moment she had landed, the plant had started to twist snakelike tendrils around her ankles. As for Harry and Ron, their legs had already been bound tightly in long creepers without their noticing. Within the minute they were both falling over.

Hermione had managed to free herself before the plant got a firm grip on her. Alicia crossed her arms in annoyance.

"Next time I say something, Listen!" she snapped.

The two watched in horror as the two boys fought to pull the plant off them, but the more they strained against it, the tighter and faster the plant wound around them.

"Stop struggling!" Alicia snapped her voice fierce and frustrated. Hermione was on her side and shouted at them also.

"Stop moving!" Hermione ordered them. "I know what this is — it's Devil's Snare!"

"Oh, I'm so glad we know what it's called, that's a great help," snarled Ron, leaning back, trying to stop the plant from curling around his neck.

"You can't fight devils snare Ronald!" Alicia hissed

"Shut up, I'm trying to remember how to kill it!" said Hermione.

"Well, hurry up, I can't breathe!" Harry gasped, wrestling with it as it curled around his chest.

"Devil's Snare, Devil's Snare… what did Professor Sprout say?"

"It's deadly fun but sulks in the sun." Alicia finished for her

"Of course, it likes the dark and the damp —"

"So light a fire!" Harry choked.

"Yes — of course — but there's no wood!" Hermione cried, wringing her hands.

"Wood!?" Alicia asked as she raised her wand

"HAVE YOU GONE MAD?" Ron bellowed. "ARE YOU A WITCH OR NOT?"

"Oh, right!" said Hermione, and she whipped out her wand, waved it, as Alicia said

" _Relashio_!"

A jet of the same bluebell flames left Hermione's wand while fiery sparks left Alicia's and landed on the plant. In a matter of seconds, the two boys felt it loosening its grip as it cringed away from the light and warmth. Wriggling and flailing, it unraveled itself from their bodies, and they were able to pull free.

"Lucky you pay attention in Herbology, Hermione," said Harry as he joined her by the wall, wiping sweat off his face.

"Yeah," said Ron, "and lucky Harry doesn't lose his head in a crisis — 'there's no wood,' _honestly._ "

"She's muggle born Ron, we've only gone a year with being able to do such things." Alicia reminded him before she turned to see a passageway.

"This way," said Harry, noticing it also.

All they could hear apart from their footsteps was the gentle drip of water trickling down the walls. The passageway sloped downward, and was very much similar to Gringotts.

"You don't supposed we could get lost down here do you?" Alicia sighed

"Do you have a spell for that?" Ron asked worried, Alicia thought.

"I think I might actually." and she smiled.

"Shh," Hermione said.

"Can you hear something?" Ron whispered.

They listened. A soft rustling and clinking seemed to be coming from up ahead.

"Do you think it's a ghost?"

"I don't know… sounds like wings to me."

"There's light ahead — I can see something moving."

They reached the end of the passageway and saw before them a brilliantly lit chamber, its ceiling arching high above them. It was full of small, jewel-bright birds, fluttering and tumbling all around the room. On the opposite side of the chamber was a heavy wooden door.

"Do you think they'll attack us if we cross the room?" said Ron.

"Probably," said Harry. "They don't look very vicious, but I suppose if they all swooped down at once…"

"Let's see." Alicia said and she walked straight out watching the birds. She had her wand raised incase any dived but as she crossed the room, nothing happened.

She stood in the middle of the room and shrugged

"I guess they have another purpose." she said. The other three walked towards her and all four reached the door where Harry pulled on the handle. It was locked. They tugged and heaved at the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even when Hermione tried her Alohomora Charm.

"Now what?" said Ron.

"These birds… they can't be here just for decoration," said Hermione.

"What kind of birds look like jewels?" Alicia wondered

"They're not birds!" Harry said suddenly. "They're _keys_! Winged keys — look carefully. So that must mean…" he looked around the chamber while the other two squinted up at the flock of keys. "… yes — look! Broomsticks! We've got to catch the key to the door!"

"But there are _hundreds_ of them!"

Ron examined the lock on the door.

"We're looking for a big, old-fashioned one — probably silver, like the handle."

"Well, we have the youngest seeker ever, this should be easy." Alicia grinned as she grabbed a broomstick.  
The other three seized a broomstick also and kicked off into the air, soaring into the midst of the cloud of keys. They grabbed and snatched, but the bewitched keys darted and dived so quickly it was almost impossible to catch one.

Not for nothing, though, was Harry the youngest Seeker in a century. He had a knack for spotting things other people didn't.

Alicia was diving through all the keys, her eyes scanning them all, not once did she reach for one but a few times she saw the same one move into her vision.

"That one!" Harry spotted "That big one — there — no, there — with bright blue wings — the feathers are all crumpled on one side."

Ron went speeding in the direction that Harry was pointing, crashed into the ceiling, and nearly fell off his broom.

"Oh well done." Alicia muttered

"We've got to close in on it!" Harry called, not taking his eyes off the key with the damaged wing. "Ron, you come at it from above — Hermione, stay below and stop it from going down — Alicia, you and I from the sides."

"Alright, don't crash into one another." she warned everyone. Harry nodded

"I'll try and catch it. Right, NOW!"

Ron dived, Hermione rocketed upward, the key dodged them both, and Harry and Alicia streaked after it; it sped toward the wall, Harry leaned forward and with a nasty, crunching noise, pinned it against the stone with one hand as Alicia pulled up and stopped smartly next to him.

"Well done." she smiled as Ron and Hermione's cheers echoed around the high chamber.

They landed quickly, and Harry ran to the door, the key struggling in his hand. He rammed it into the lock and turned — it worked. The moment the lock had clicked open, the key took flight again, looking very battered now that it had been caught twice.

"Ready?" Harry asked the other three, his hand on the door handle. They nodded. He pulled the door open.

The next chamber was so dark they couldn't see anything at all. But as they stepped into it, light suddenly flooded the room to reveal an astonishing sight.

They were standing on the edge of a huge chessboard, behind the black chessmen, which were all taller than they were and carved from what looked like black stone. Facing them, way across the chamber, were the white pieces. Harry, Ron and Hermione shivered slightly — the towering white chessmen had no faces.

"I'd say this is McGonagall's enchantment." Alicia muttered

"Now what do we do?" Harry whispered.

"It's obvious, isn't it?" said Ron. "We've got to play our way across the room."

Behind the white pieces they could see another door.

"How?" said Hermione nervously.

"I think," said Ron, "we're going to have to be chessmen."

He walked up to a black knight and put his hand out to touch the knights horse. At once, the stone sprang to life. The horse pawed the ground and the knight turned his helmeted head to look down at Ron.

"Do we — er — have to join you to get across?"

The black knight nodded. Ron turned to the other two.

"This needs thinking about…" he said. "I suppose we've got to take the place of four of the black pieces…"

"Ron, you know better then we do how wizard's chess works, that might not be as easy as it sounds." Alicia warned.

Harry and Hermione stayed quiet, watching Ron think. Finally he said,

"Now, don't be offended or anything, but none of you are that good at chess —"

"We're not offended," said Harry quickly. "Just tell us what to do."

"Well, Harry, Alicia you take the places of the bishops, and Hermione, you go there instead of that castle."

"What about you?"

"I'm going to be a knight," said Ron.

The chessmen seemed to have been listening, because at these words a knight, both bishops, and a castle turned their backs on the white pieces and walked off the board, leaving three empty squares that Harry, Alicia, Ron, and Hermione took.

"White always plays first in chess," said Ron, peering across the board. "Yes… look…"

A white pawn had moved forward two squares.

Ron started to direct the black pieces. They moved silently wherever he sent them. Harry's knees were trembling. What if they lost?

"Harry — move diagonally four squares to the right."

Their first real shock came when their other knight was taken. The white queen smashed him to the floor and dragged him off the board, where he lay quite still, facedown.

Alicia was proven right with her worries.

"Had to let that happen," said Ron, looking shaken. "Leaves you free to take that bishop, Hermione, go on."

Every time one of their men was lost, the white pieces showed no mercy. Soon there was a huddle of limp black players slumped along the wall. Twice, Ron only just noticed in time that Harry, Alicia and Hermione were in danger. He himself darted around the board, taking almost as many white pieces as they had lost black ones.

"We're nearly there," he muttered suddenly. "Let me think — let me think…"

The white queen turned her blank face toward him.

"Ron…" Alicia said warning as she watched

"Yes…" said Ron softly, "it's the only way… I've got to be taken."

"NO!" Harry and Hermione shouted.

"That's chess!" snapped Ron. "You've got to make some sacrifices!"

"You're a person not a chess piece!" Alicia shouted

"I make my move and she'll take me — that leaves you free to checkmate the king, Harry!"

"But —"

"Do you want to stop Snape or not?"

"Ron —"

"Look, if you don't hurry up, he'll already have the Stone!" There was no alternative.

"Ready?" Ron called, his face pale but determined. "Here I go — now, don't hang around once you've won."

He stepped forward, and the white queen pounced. She struck Ron hard across the head with her stone arm, and he crashed to the floor — Hermione screamed but stayed on her square — the white queen dragged Ron to one side. He looked as if he'd been knocked out.

Alicia clenched her fists and took a deep breath, closing her eyes as, shaking, Harry moved three spaces to the left.

The white king took off his crown and threw it at Harry's feet. They had won. The chessmen parted and bowed, leaving the door ahead clear. With one last desperate look back at Ron, Alicia, Harry and Hermione charged through the door and up the next passageway.

"What if he's — ?"

"He'll be all right," said Harry, trying to convince himself.

"Hopefully, just a concussion." Alicia nodded, her face worried though.

"What do you reckon's next?" Harry asked

"We've had Sprout's, that was the Devils Snare; Flitwick must've put charms on the keys; McGonagall transfigured the chessmen to make them alive; that leaves Quirrell's spell, and Snape's…"

"And Dumbledore's." Alicia muttered

They had reached another door.

"All right?" Harry whispered. Alicia nodded

"Go on." she pointed

Harry pushed it open.

A disgusting smell filled their nostrils, making all of them pull their robes up over their noses. Eyes watering, they saw, flat on the floor in front of them, a troll even larger than the one they had tackled, out cold with a bloody lump on its head.

"I'm glad we didn't have to fight that one," Harry whispered as they stepped carefully over one of its massive legs. "Come on, I can't breathe."

He pulled open the next door, none of them hardly daring to look at what came next — but there was nothing very frightening in here, just a table with seven differently shaped bottles standing on it in a line.

"Snape's," said Harry. "What do we have to do?"

They stepped over the threshold, and immediately a fire sprang up behind them in the doorway. It wasn't ordinary fire either; it was purple. At the same instant, black flames shot up in the doorway leading onward. They were trapped.

Alicia looked at the two and then to the table.

"I guess we have to pick a potion to let us through." she muttered

"Look!" Hermione seized a roll of paper lying next to the bottles. Harry and Alicia looked over her shoulder to read it:

 _Danger lies before you, while safety lies behind,  
Two of us will help you, whichever you would find,  
One among us seven will let you move ahead,  
Another will transport the drinker back instead,  
Two among our number hold only nettle wine,  
Three of us are killers, waiting hidden in line.  
Choose, unless you wish to stay here forevermore,  
To help you in your choice, we give you these clues four: _

_First, however slyly the poison tries to hide  
You will always find some on nettle wine's left side;  
Second, different are those who stand at either end,  
But if you would move onward, neither is your friend; _

_Third, as you see clearly, all are different size,  
Neither dwarf nor giant holds death in their insides;_

 _Fourth, the second left and the second on the right  
Are twins once you taste them, though different at first sight. _

Hermione let out a great sigh and Harry, amazed, saw that she was smiling, the very last thing he felt like doing.

" _Brilliant,_ " said Hermione. "This isn't magic — it's logic — a puzzle. A lot of the greatest wizards haven't got an ounce of logic, they'd be stuck in here forever."

"But so will we, won't we?"

"Of course not," said Hermione and Alicia chorused with a smile.

"Everything we need is here on this paper. Seven bottles: three are poison; two are wine; one will get us safely through the black fire, and one will get us back through the purple."

"But how do we know which to drink?"

"If anyone can work that out, it's Hermione." Alicia pointed and Hermione smiled with a nod.  
"Give me a minute."  
Hermione read the paper several times. Then she walked up and down the line of bottles, muttering to herself and pointing at them. At last, she clapped her hands.

"Got it," she said. "The smallest bottle will get us through the black fire — toward the Stone."

Harry looked at the tiny bottle.

"There's only enough there for one of us," he said. "That's hardly one swallow."

They looked at one another.  
"Which one will get you back through the purple flames?" Hermione pointed at a rounded bottle at the right end of the line.

"That's still not enough." Alicia muttered, she began to think and Harry looked worried.

"You drink that," said Harry to Hermione. "No, listen, get back and get Ron. Grab brooms from the flying-key room, they'll get you out of the trapdoor and past Fluffy — go straight to the owlery and send Hedwig to Dumbledore, we need him. I might be able to hold Snape off for a while, but I'm no match for him, really."

"But Harry — what if You-Know-Who's with him?"

"Well — I was lucky once, wasn't I?" said Harry, pointing at his scar. "I might get lucky again."

"What about Alicia?" Hermione pointed

"I think I have an idea…" Alicia admitted "I have a spell that might work."

"What spell?"

"A duplicate spell…" she said "If you duplicate something valuable the value in the duplicate is non-existent, but I think if I duplicated the potion, it should still do the same thing." she explained and looked at Hermione.

"Then go with Hermione." Harry said

"No." Alicia shook her head "Hermione and Ron will be alright, you on the other hand, maybe not." she crossed her arms before she grinned.

Hermione however didn't look convinced, her lip had begun to tremble before she suddenly dashed at Harry and threw her arms around him.

" _Hermione_!"

"Harry — you're a great wizard, you know."

"I'm not as good as you two," said Harry, very embarrassed, as she let go of him.

"Me!" said Hermione.

"I just have a good memory and a daring personality to try things I'm not ready for." Alicia laughed

"Books! And cleverness! There are more important things," Hermione said strongly "Friendship and bravery and — oh Harry — be _careful_!"

"You were more then determined to come down here whether you were good or not." Alicia smiled "We don't match you." Hermione nodded before she turned to Alicia and hugged her too.

"We'll be alright Hermione." she assured and pulled away "Just get Dumbledore." she said strongly and Hermione nodded

"You drink first," said Harry. "You are sure which is which, aren't you?"

"Positive," said Hermione. She took a long drink from the round bottle at the end, and shuddered.

"It's not poison?" said Harry anxiously.

"No — but it's like ice."

"Quick, go, before it wears off."

"Good luck — take care —"

"GO!"

Hermione turned and walked straight through the purple fire. Alicia turned to the other bottle and grabbed it.

" _Geminio_." Alicia suddenly held two potions. She blinked

"To be honest I thought Snape might have done something to counter that." she admitted before grinning.

She handed one to Harry

"You sure this'll work?" he asked

"I don't see why it wouldn't." she admitted, keeping the smile.

Harry looked her over before he took a deep breath. He turned to face the black flames and Alicia copied him.

"Here we come," he said, they shared a look before both drained their little bottles in one gulp.

It was indeed as though ice was flooding their bodies. Alicia shuddered and put the bottle down with Harry before walking walked forward; Harry braced himself and Alicia took his hand for comfort.

 _Just in case…_ she thought. They took a deep breath and stepped into the flames. They saw the black flames licking their bodies, but couldn't feel them — for a moment there was nothing but dark fire — then they was on the other side, in the last chamber.

Alicia let out a sigh of relief that it'd worked for her before her attention was drawn to who stood before them.

It wasn't Snape. It wasn't even Voldemort.


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

It was Quirrell!

" _You_!" gasped Harry while Alicia just stared in surprise.

Quirrell smiled. His face wasn't twitching at all.

"Me," he said calmly. "I wondered whether I'd be meeting you here, Potter."

"But I thought — Snape —" Alicia noticed his stutter had suddenly gone… he didn't tremble or shake, he suddenly had a strength, a darkness about him.

"Severus?" Quirrell laughed, and it wasn't his usual quivering tremble, either, but cold and sharp. "Yes, Severus does seem the type, doesn't he? So useful to have him swooping around like an overgrown bat. Next to him, who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

"But Snape tried to kill me!" Harry thought

"No, no, no. _I_ tried to kill you. Your friend Miss Granger accidentally knocked me over as she rushed to set fire to Snape at that Quidditch match. She broke my eye contact with you. Another few seconds and I'd have got you off that broom. I'd have managed it before then if Snape hadn't been muttering a counter curse."

"He was trying to save you." Alicia realised

"Snape was trying to _save_ me?"

"Of course," said Quirrell coolly. "Why do you think he wanted to referee your next match? He was trying to make sure I didn't do it again. Funny, really… he needn't have bothered. I couldn't do anything with Dumbledore watching. All the other teachers thought Snape was trying to stop Gryffindor from winning, he _did_ make himself unpopular… and what a waste of time, when after all that, I'm going to kill you tonight."

Quirrell snapped his fingers. Ropes sprang out of thin air. Alicia's eyes widened before the two of them were tied together tightly.

"You're too nosy to live, Potter. Scurrying around the school on Halloween like that, for all I knew you'd seen me coming to look at what was guarding the Stone."

" _You_ let the troll in?"

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls — you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there?"

"Nothing special, just had a lump on it's head." Alicia snapped as she struggled against the ropes.

"Not amused, Ms _Evans_?" Alicia didn't like how he said her name and she glanced at Harry. He hadn't noticed.

"Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off — and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly.

"Now, wait quietly, Potter. I need to examine this interesting mirror." It was the Mirror of Erised that stood behind Quirrell.

"Dumbledore." Alicia whispered to Harry "This is his enchantment." she realised. She smirked "Like to see Quirrell get through it."

The professor in question however hadn't heard her.

"This mirror is the key to finding the Stone," Quirrell murmured, tapping his way around the frame. "Trust Dumbledore to come up with something like this… but he's in London… I'll be far away by the time he gets back…"

All Harry could think of doing was to keep Quirrell talking and stop him from concentrating on the mirror.

"I saw you and Snape in the forest —" he blurted out.

"Yes," said Quirrell idly, walking around the mirror to look at the back. "He was on to me by that time, trying to find out how far I'd got. He suspected me all along. Tried to frighten me — as though he could, when I had Lord Voldemort on my side…"

Alicia stopped wriggling surprised.

Quirrell came back out from behind the mirror and stared hungrily into it.

"I see the Stone… I'm presenting it to my master… but where is it?"

Harry struggled against the ropes binding him, but they didn't give. He _had_ to keep Quirrell from giving his whole attention to the mirror.

"Can you do something against the ropes?" Harry whispered to Alicia

"Maybe but remember, Quirrell's a teacher and I'm a first year, I might have managed to do some impressive things but I might not have strong enough magic to stop these." she muttered. She searched her head anyway and Harry kept Quirrell talking.

"But Snape always seemed to hate me so much."

"Oh, he does," said Quirrell casually, "heavens, yes. He was at Hogwarts with your father, didn't you know? They loathed each other. But he never wanted you _dead._ "

"But I heard you a few days ago, sobbing — I thought Snape was threatening you."

For the first time, a spasm of fear flitted across Quirrell's face.

"Sometimes," he said, "I find it hard to follow my master's instructions — he is a great wizard and I am weak —"

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped.

"He is with me wherever I go," said Quirrell quietly.

"I think I have an idea…" Alicia whispered "But I don't know if I'm strong enough to make it work…"

"Give it a shot when I say." Harry muttered and Alicia nodded

"I met him when I traveled around the world. A foolish young man I was then, full of ridiculous ideas about good and evil. Lord Voldemort showed me how wrong I was. There is no good and evil, there is only power, and those too weak to seek it… Since then, I have served him faithfully, although I have let him down many times. He has had to be very hard on me." Quirrell shivered suddenly. "He does not forgive mistakes easily. When I failed to steal the Stone from Gringotts, he was most displeased. He punished me… decided he would have to keep a closer watch on me…"

Quirrell's voice trailed away. Alicia ground her teeth in annoyance, of course it was Quirrell, he was there that very day, Harry had shaken hands with him in the Leaky Cauldron.

Quirrell cursed under his breath.

"I don't understand… is the Stone _inside_ the mirror? Should I break it?"

Harry's mind was racing.

He tried to edge to the left, to get in front of the glass without Quirrell noticing. However he didn't tell Alicia, and the ropes around their ankles were too tight: both tripped and fell over, Alicia onto Harry before they rolled and laid next to one another. Quirrell ignored then. He was still talking to himself.

"Now?" Alicia asked and she glanced at Quirrell "While he's preoccupied."

"What does this mirror do? How does it work? Help me, Master!"

Harry didn't get to answer as suddenly a voice answered, and the voice seemed to come from Quirrell himself.

"Use the boy… Use the boy…"

Quirrell rounded on Harry.

"Yes — Potter — come here."

He clapped his hands once, and the ropes binding Harry and Alicia fell off. Harry got slowly to his feet while Alicia sat up, her eyes were on Quirrell in confusion.

"Come here," Quirrell repeated. "Look in the mirror and tell me what you see."

Harry walked toward him.

Quirrell moved close behind him and Harry glanced at Alicia through the mirror. Her expression became determined. He closed his eyes, stepped in front of the mirror, and opened them again.

Alicia watched Harry as she stood up, this time, she couldn't see what Harry saw, their desires mustn't have matched up this time.

"Well?" said Quirrell impatiently. "What do you see?"

"I see myself shaking hands with Dumbledore," he invented. "I — I've won the House Cup for Gryffindor."

Quirrell cursed again.

"Get out of the way," he said. As Harry moved aside Alicia joined him, grabbing his hand. She looked at him, questioning what he saw but she knew he couldn't answer while Quirrell was right there. So she pulled on his arm lightly and began to back away before a high voice spoke, though Quirrell wasn't moving his lips.

"He lies… He lies…"

"Potter, come back here!" Quirrell shouted. "Tell me the truth! What did you just see?"

The high voice spoke again.

"Let me speak to him… face-to-face…"

"Master, you are not strong enough!"

"I have strength enough… for this…"

Alicia couldn't move, even Harry stayed as her grip tightened slightly on his. The two watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban. What was going on? The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.

Alicia's face turned stunned and terrified at the same time, yet no sound escaped her. Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face the two had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Harry Potter…" it whispered Alicia felt her blood drain from her face as it's eyes set on her.

"And Alicia," she didn't understand how he knew her name. "Together again." it smiled slightly

Alicia and Harry shared a look, Harry more confused then Alicia who swallowed. She didn't want to have such a conversation with _him._

"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapour… I have form only when I can share another's body… but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds… Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks… you saw faithful Quirrell drinking it for me in the forest… and once I have the Elixir of Life, I will be able to create a body of my own… Now… why don't you give me that Stone in your pocket?"

Alicia's expression hardened and she took a step back, Harry seemed to jump out of his fear as he too stumbled backward.

"Don't be a fool," snarled the face. "Better save your own life and join me… or you'll meet the same end as your parents… They died begging me for mercy…"

"LIAR!" Harry shouted suddenly.

"You miserable asshole!" Alicia snapped

Quirrell was walking backward at him, so that Voldemort could still see him. The evil face was now smiling.

"How touching…" it hissed. "I always value bravery… Yes, your parents were brave… I killed your father first, and he put up a courageous fight… but your mother needn't have died… she was trying to protect you… Now give me the Stone, unless you want her to have died in vain."

"NEVER!" this time both Harry and Alicia shouted.

Harry sprang toward the flame door, pulling Alicia with him as she still had his hand, but Voldemort screamed "SEIZE HIM!" and the next second, Alicia felt Quirrell's hand close on her wrist. Alicia felt a burning pain run through her neck and then she was released. Quirrell had let go of and was hunched in pain, looking at his fingers — they were blistering before his eyes.

Alicia and Harry shared a confused look as Voldemort shouted again.

"Seize him! SEIZE HIM!" and Quirrell lunged, knocking both first years clean off their feet, before he landing on top of Harry, Alicia having been pushed to the side. Both hands of Quirrell's were around Harry's neck. Harry's face screwed up in pain, yet it was Quirrell howling in the most agony.

"Master, I cannot hold him — my hands — my hands!"

And Quirrell, though pinning Harry to the ground with his knees, let go of his neck and stared, bewildered, at his own palms they looked burned, raw, red, and shiny.

Alicia moved forwards and grabbed Quirrell's arm to get him off Harry but he suddenly shouted again and flinched away from her, getting off Harry.

"Are you alright?" she asked

"What happened?"

"I don't know, we can find out later!" and they ran for the exit.

"Kill him, fool, and be done!" screeched Voldemort. The two turned around to see Quirrell raise his hand to perform a deadly curse. Harry, by instinct, ran towards him and grabbed Quirrell's face —

"AAAARGH!"

Quirrell rolled off him, his face blistering, too. It seemed as though Quirrell couldn't touch Harry's bare skin… Alicia looked at her hand, she had been the same… why was she similar to Harry?

Alicia shook her head, now wasn't the time to think about it.

Harry jumped to his feet, caught Quirrell by the arm, and hung on as tight as he could. Quirrell screamed and tried to throw Harry off.

Quarrel shrieked and Voldemort shouted as Harry's eyes clamped shut, his face withered with pain. Alicia grabbed Quirrell's other arm in an attempt to help Harry. She ignored the sudden burning in her neck.

"KILL HIM! KILL HIM!" After seeing Harry's expression Alicia gripped Quirrell tighter and pulled him away from Harry, who let go. Alicia stumbled backwards and released the man who continued to shout as she fell to her knees, Harry falling to the floor unconscious.

And then, she wasn't alone. Dumbledore stood before her, she stared at him surprised before her gaze fell on Harry.

"Harry!" she crawled to his side as Dumbledore dealt easily with Quirrell, however she wasn't paying attention to see how. She immediately placed her hand to the underside of Harry's chin and felt for a pulse.

It was there, though faint. Alicia let out a sigh of relief which quickly turned into a pant as she reached to her neck under her hair, it was throbbing painfully and sending her head spinning.

She suddenly felt exhausted.

"Alicia," Dumbledore was beside her, a hand on her back.

"Spinning," she muttered "I'm fine," the words were lost on her breath but Dumbledore seemed to somehow understand before she looked at Harry and her expression softened.

And then, everything was black.

* * *

She knew it hadn't been a dream, she wasn't sure how, but she knew. When she opened her eyes Alicia was looking at a white celling, she was lying in a bed of white linen sheets.

 _The hospital wing…_ she realised as she looked around. Her eyes however suddenly settled on Dumbledore who smiled at her.

"Good afternoon,"

"Professor," she muttered. She turned to see the bed beside her was also occupied, by Harry.

"Is he alright?" she wondered. Dumbledore smile widened.

"Yes he should be fine." he nodded "As should you."

"What happened to me?" she whispered

"It was a reaction to a very terrible curse." Dumbledore admitted

"What curse?" her eyebrows furrowed in confusion. Dumbledore smiled but sighed.

"You remember our talk before the Mirror of Erised do you not?" he asked. Alicia nodded

"Of course." her voice was small.

"The reason you and Harry are so similar is because you're family." Alicia nodded, having assumed as much. "You both have the black hair of Harry's father, but the same green eyes that belonged to your mother, Lily Evans." Alicia took a deep breath and looked over to Harry.

"That is why your wands are similar, your physical appearance is similar, and you personalities." Dumbledore explained "You however Ms Evans resemble your mother, whereas Harry here is more like your father. Both of you however, are smart, kind, caring, rebellious, if I do admit, but care about those around you, no matter what the cost."

"How come no one ever told me?" she whispered

"It seemed difficult enough to enter this world, it was for the same reason Hagrid did not wish to tell Harry why he was famous. You did not need such information at the time." Dumbledore admitted "After all, in the world, all that survived of you was your memory." Alicia frowned, not sure how to feel about that, but Dumbledore continued anyway.

"All that survived of you were rumours to our kind. No one knew where you had gone, or even if you had survived. You were talked about as much as the boy who lived as it was just as much of a confusing topic." Dumbledore explained "Everyone wondered as to whether Lily and James's second child was alive, and to how Harry survived in the first place."

"How come I haven't heard rumours? Wouldn't everyone here be talking about it?" she wondered confused.

"I suppose after your real name wasn't called out at the sorting, the question as to whether you survived or not was assumed to be answered. As Harry had no idea of this world when he entered it he also had no idea of his twin and therefore, no one brought it up."

Alicia found it strange that even Malfoy hadn't said anything, especially after he teased Harry about not having any parents so many times.

"Why was I separated from Harry?" she asked "Why put me in an orphanage?"

"Keeping you separate kept you abilities more dormant then if you were together. It was safer for you both if you were separate, incase any of Voldemort's followers ever came looking for you. You were harder to find if apart."

"I still don't think I quite understand what happened though. Back then, I mean," she admitted

"The reason Voldemort was at your house, a reason I cannot divulge yet unfortunately, involved Harry, he was in more mortal danger then yourself. Because of this it was Harry that received the majority of Voldemort's curse." Dumbledore admitted

"And received the scar?" she asked. Dumbledore nodded

"You however Alicia, received a hit as well." Alicia instinctively moved her hand to her neck and over her wonky cross of a scar.

Dumbledore nodded.

"This is why you felt the same pain as Harry when you touched Quirrell, who's body housed Voldemort. However as the curse was originally directed at Harry, it did not affect you as much." Alicia frowned and turned to Harry.

"Why did Quirrell act like that when we touched him?" Alicia questioned

Dumbledore opened him mouth to answer before Harry began to stir. Dumbledore rose from him seat and leaned over him. After blinking a few times Harry's gaze set on the Headmaster.

"Good afternoon, Harry," said Dumbledore. Harry stared at him before he suddenly burst.

"Sir! The Stone! It was Quirrell! He's got the Stone! Sir, quick —"

"Calm yourself, dear boy, you are a little behind the times," said Dumbledore. "Quirrell does not have the Stone."

"Then who does? Sir, I —"

"Harry, please relax, or Madam Pomfrey will have me thrown out."

Harry swallowed and looked around him. He noticed that next to him was a table piled high with what looked like half the candy shop.

"Tokens from your friends and admirers," said Dumbledore, beaming. "You both received your fair share." Alicia looked confused before noticing the pile she had beside her as well. She grinned "What happened down in the dungeons between you, Alicia and Professor Quirrell is a complete secret, so, naturally, the whole school knows." Harry's eyes widened again

"Alicia!" he said worrying some more.

"Harry," Dumbledore's voice was calm but instructing before he turned to Alicia. Harry did as well and Alicia smiled.

"Good to see you awake." she said

"Are you alright?"

"Better now." she nodded "And you?" Harry looked himself over and nodded.

"I believe your friends Misters Fred and George Weasley were responsible for trying to send you a toilet seat." Alicia bursted out laughing. "No doubt they thought it would amuse you. Madam Pomfrey, however, felt it might not be very hygienic, and confiscated it."

"How long have I been in here?"

"Three days." Alicia gapped "Mr. Ronald Weasley and Miss Granger will be most relieved you both have come round, they have been extremely worried."

"How's Ron?" Alicia asked

"He had a minor concussion but he is fine." Alicia nodded, relieved.

"But sir, the Stone —"

"I see you are not to be distracted. Very well, the Stone. Professor Quirrell did not manage to take it from you. I arrived in time to prevent that, although you were doing very well on your own, I must say."

"You got there? You got Hermione's owl?"

"We must have crossed in midair. No sooner had I reached London than it became clear to me that the place I should be was the one I had just left. I arrived just in time to see Alicia pull Quirrell off you and stepped in as you both collapsed —"

Harry looked at Alicia who smiled.

"It was _you._ " Dumbledore smiled at them both.

"I feared I might be too late."

"You nearly were, I couldn't have kept him off the Stone much longer —"

"Not the Stone, boy, you — the effort involved nearly killed you. For one terrible moment there, I was afraid it had."

"You blacked out and didn't move again Harry." Alicia admitted

"Dear Ms Evans here however checked for a pulse and I brought you both here." Dumbledore explained "As for the Stone, it has been destroyed."

"Destroyed?" said Harry blankly. "But your friend — Nicolas Flamel —"

"Oh, you know about Nicolas?" said Dumbledore, sounding quite delighted. "You _did_ do the thing properly, didn't you? Well, Nicolas and I have had a little chat, and agreed it's all for the best."

"But that means he and his wife will die, won't they?"

"They have enough Elixir stored to set their affairs in order and then, yes, they will die."

Dumbledore smiled at the look of amazement on Harry's face.

"To one as young as you, I'm sure it seems incredible, but to Nicolas and Perenelle, it really is like going to bed after a very, _very_ long day. After all, to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure. You know, the Stone was really not such a wonderful thing. As much money and life as you could want! The two things most human beings would choose above all — the trouble is, humans do have a knack of choosing precisely those things that are worst for them."

"No one can live forever Harry." Alicia smiled. Harry lay there, lost for words. Dumbledore hummed a little and smiled at the ceiling while Alicia glanced between the two, she had now come up with a problem, how did she tell Harry she was in fact his sister…?

 _That'll be a great conversation._ she muttered

"Sir?" said Harry. "I've been thinking… Sir — even if the Stone's gone, Vol—, I mean, You-Know-Who —"

"Call him Voldemort, Harry. Always use the proper name for things. Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself."

"Yes, sir. Well, Voldemort's going to try other ways of coming back, isn't he? I mean, he hasn't gone, has he?"

"No, Harry, he has not. He is still out there somewhere, perhaps looking for another body to share… not being truly alive, he cannot be killed. He left Quirrell to die; he shows just as little mercy to his followers as his enemies. Nevertheless, Harry, while you may only have delayed his return to power, it will merely take someone else who is prepared to fight what seems a losing battle next time — and if he is delayed again, and again, why, he may never return to power."

Harry nodded, but stopped quickly.

"Sir, there are some other things I'd like to know, if you can tell me… things I want to know the truth about…" Alicia frowned

"The truth." Dumbledore sighed, saying what Alicia thought. "It is a beautiful and terrible thing, and should therefore be treated with great caution. However, I shall answer your questions unless I have a very good reason not to, in which case I beg you'll forgive me. I shall not, of course, lie."

He looked at Alicia who was watching Harry, wondering what the first question would be.

"Well… Voldemort said that he only killed my mother because she tried to stop him from killing me. But why would he want to kill me in the first place?"

Dumbledore sighed very deeply this time.

"Alas, the first thing you ask me, I cannot tell you. Either of you." he said looking at Alicia, which made Harry's face grow in confusion "Not today. Not now. You will know, one day… put it from your mind for now, Harry. When you are older… I know you hate to hear this… when you are ready, you will know."

"When we can comprehend it's meaning." Alicia whispered to which Dumbledore nodded.

"But why couldn't Quirrell touch me?" and Alicia waited for the answer just as intently.

"Your mother died to save you. If there is one thing Voldemort cannot understand, it is love. He didn't realise that love as powerful as your mother's for you leaves its own mark. Not a scar, no visible sign… to have been loved so deeply, even though the person who loved us is gone, will give us some protection forever. It is in your very skin. Quirrell, full of hatred, greed, and ambition, sharing his soul with Voldemort, could not touch either of you for this reason. It was agony to touch a person marked by something so good."

Dumbledore now became very interested in a bird out on the windowsill, which gave Harry time to dry his eyes on the sheet. Of course however, he'd noticed Dumbledore's words.

"What do you mean either of us?" Harry asked, glancing at Alicia

"Did you not notice Harry, that Quirrell could not be touched by Alicia either?" Harry nodded slowly "Harry why do you think Alicia saw the same thing in the mirror as you?" Dumbledore wondered

"She desired the same thing."

"Yes, but why see your family?" Dumbledore asked. Harry was at a loss for words. "Alicia, tell Harry what you noticed," he said to her.

"I look the exact same as his mother," she said and looked at Harry "Except for my hair, which belonged to his dad."

"You see Harry, Alicia, who has never known her parents wished to meet them also, but upon seeing them was confused. As it turns out the family she was seeing was indeed hers as well." Dumbledore said. Harry looked at Alicia shocked

"Turns out you haven't lost your entire family." she admitted

"But…?"

"In order to keep you both safe, I had to separate you both, however, I did not send you too far from one another." Dumbledore explained to him. Harry looked at Alicia.

"I didn't know either." she assured him

Harry looked away, thinking it over before something else came to his mind.

"And the Invisibility Cloak — do you know who sent it to me?"

"Ah — your father happened to leave it in my possession, and I thought you might like it." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "Useful things… your father used it mainly for sneaking off to the kitchens to steal food when he was here."

Alicia chuckled, that's what she'd use it for.

"And there's something else…"

"Fire away."

"Quirrell said Snape —"

" _Professor_ Snape, Harry."

"Yes, him — Quirrell said he hates me because he hated my father. Is that true?"

"Well, they did rather detest each other. Not unlike yourself and Mr. Malfoy. And then, your father did something Snape could never forgive."

"What?"

"He saved his life."

" _What_?"

"Yes…" said Dumbledore dreamily. "Funny, the way people's minds work, isn't it? Professor Snape couldn't bear being in your father's debt… I do believe he worked so hard to protect you this year because he felt that would make him and your father even. Then he could go back to hating your father's memory in peace…"

"Then how come he doesn't even look at me?" Alicia wondered "I'm assuming he knows." she admitted

"You Alicia, is probably because you remind Professor Snape of your mother, Lily." Alicia looked at him confused but he didn't continue.

"And sir, there's one more thing…"

"Just the one?"

"How did I get the Stone out of the mirror?"

"Ah, now, I'm glad you asked me that. It was one of my more brilliant ideas, and between you and me, that's saying something. You see, only one who wanted to _find_ the Stone — find it, but not use it — would be able to get it, otherwise they'd just see themselves making gold or drinking Elixir of Life. My brain surprises even me sometimes…" Alicia smiled "Now, enough questions. I suggest you make a start on these sweets. Ah! Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans! I was unfortunate enough in my youth to come across a vomit-flavoured one, and since then I'm afraid I've rather lost my liking for them — but I think I'll be safe with a nice toffee, don't you?"

He smiled and popped the golden-brown bean into his mouth. Then he choked and said, "Alas! Ear wax!" Causing the two kids to chuckle.

* * *

Madam Pomfrey, the nurse, was a nice woman, but very strict.

"Just five minutes," Harry pleaded.

"Absolutely not."

"Please!" Alicia asked

"You let Professor Dumbledore in…"

"Well, of course, that was the headmaster, quite different."

"Madam Pomfrey, headmaster or not, he would have obstructed our health just as much." Alicia said smiling slightly

"You need _rest._ " she snapped

"We are resting, look, lying down and everything." Alicia nodded as Harry looked at her "Oh, go on, Madam Pomfrey…"

"Oh, very well," she said. "But five minutes _only._ " Alicia grinned as she let Ron and Hermione in.

" _Harry_!"

Hermione looked ready to fling her arms around him again, but Harry was glad she held herself in as his head was still very sore.

"Hermione!" Alicia however sat up and Hermione didn't hold back and gave her a hug.

"Oh, Harry, we were sure you were going to — Alicia, Dumbledore was so worried —"

"The whole school's talking about it," said Ron. "What _really_ happened?"

It was one of those rare occasions when the true story is even more strange and exciting than the wild rumours. Harry and Alicia told them everything: Quirrell; the mirror; the Stone; and Voldemort. Ron and Hermione were a very good audience; they gasped in all the right places, and when Harry told them what was under Quirrell's turban, Hermione screamed out loud. The one thing the two didn't mention, was their sudden relation.

"So the Stone's gone?" said Ron finally. "Flamel's just going to _die_?"

"Not immediately." Alicia rolled her eyes

"That's what I said, but Dumbledore thinks that — what was it? — 'to the well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure.' "

"I always said he was off his rocker," said Ron, looking quite impressed at how crazy his hero was.

"If you ask me, it's a very wise thing to say."

"So what happened to you two?" said Harry.

"Well, I got back all right," said Hermione. "I brought Ron round — that took a while — and we were dashing up to the owlery to contact Dumbledore when we met him in the entrance hall — he already knew — he just said, 'Harry's gone after him, hasn't he?' and hurtled off to the third floor."

"D'you think he meant you to do it?" said Ron. "Sending you your fathers cloak and everything?"

" _Well,_ " Hermione exploded, "if he did — I mean to say — that's terrible — you could have been killed."

"I don't think he meant for Harry to almost get killed. What person like Dumbledore would purposely put someone in danger?" Alicia asked

"He's a funny man, Dumbledore." Harry said thoughtfully "I think he sort of wanted to give me a chance. I think he knows more or less everything that goes on here, you know. I reckon he had a pretty good idea we were going to try, and instead of stopping us, he just taught us enough to help." Harry looked at Alicia "He let us work certain facts out for ourselves before lending us a hand later on. I don't think it was an accident he let us find out how the mirror worked. It's almost like he thought I had the right to face Voldemort if I could…"

"Yeah, Dumbledore's off his rocker, all right," said Ron proudly. "Listen, you've got to be up for the end-of-year feast tomorrow. The points are all in and Slytherin won, of course — you missed the last Quidditch match, we were steamrollered by Ravenclaw without you — but the food'll be good."

"I can't believe the years at an end already." Alicia sighed but then she brightened up "This means only a couple of months before I can try out for the Quidditch team!" she beamed.

At that moment, Madam Pomfrey bustled over.

"You've had nearly fifteen minutes, now OUT," she said firmly.

* * *

After a good night's sleep, Alicia felt as good as new and Harry felt nearly back to normal.

"I want to go to the feast," he told Madam Pomfrey as she straightened his many candy boxes.

"Harry." Alicia scolded "Can we please go to the feast?" she rephrased

"We can, can't we?"

"Professor Dumbledore says you are to be allowed to go," she said sniffily, as though in her opinion Professor Dumbledore didn't realise how risky feasts could be. "And you have another visitor."

"Oh, good," said Harry at the same time Alicia said "Really?"

"Who is it?"

Hagrid sidled through the door as he spoke. As usual when he was indoors, Hagrid looked too big to be allowed. He sat down between the two, took one look at them, and burst into tears.

Alicia's smile vanished in worry.

"It's — all — my — ruddy — fault!" he sobbed, his face in his hands. "I told the evil git how ter get past Fluffy! I told him! It was the only thing he didn't know, an' I told him! Yeh could've died! All fer a dragon egg! I'll never drink again! I should be chucked out an' made ter live as a Muggle!"

"Hagrid!" said Harry, shocked to see Hagrid shaking with grief and remorse, great tears leaking down into his beard. "Hagrid, he'd have found out somehow, this is Voldemort we're talking about, he'd have found out even if you hadn't told him."

"It's not your fault, you didn't force us down that trap door." Alicia said, her face stern "You are not allowed to blame yourself, this is Voldemort we're talking about."

"Yeh could've died!" sobbed Hagrid. "An' don' say the name!"

"VOLDEMORT!" Harry and Alicia bellowed, and Hagrid was so shocked, he stopped crying.

"I've met him and I'm calling him by his name."

"Fear of a name only increases fear of the thing itself." Alicia quoted Dumbledore

"Please cheer up, Hagrid, we saved the Stone, it's gone, he can't use it. Have a Chocolate Frog, I've got loads…" Alicia smiled at him as Hagrid looked between the two.

Hagrid wiped his nose on the back of his hand and said,

"That reminds me. I've got yeh a present."

"It's not a stoat sandwich, is it?" said Harry anxiously, and at last Hagrid gave a weak chuckle.

"Nah. Dumbledore gave me the day off yesterday ter fix it. 'Course, he shoulda sacked me instead — anyway, got yeh this…" It seemed to be a handsome, leather-covered book. Harry opened it curiously as Alicia craned her neck, wondering what was inside. It was full of wizard photographs. Smiling and waving at him from every page were his mother and father.

"Sent owls off ter all yer parents' old school friends, askin' fer photos… knew yeh didn' have any… d'yeh like it?"

Harry couldn't speak, but Hagrid understood. Harry passed the book to Alicia who flicked through the book surprised, before a smile formed. She handed it back and Harry looked at her questionably.

"First off, Hagrid gave it to you." she said, Hagrid looked slightly confused, apparently Dumbledore hadn't told him about the two. "Plus you have to go back to the awful Dursley's you're gonna need a pick-me-up." Alicia smiled

Hagrid looked between the two as Alicia smiled at him. And then the giant gapped, his eyes registering.

"Alicia…"

"Potter." Alicia nodded with a smile "Alicia Potter." Hagrid looked her over surprised "But don't tell anyone." she whispered "Dumbledore said it has to be a secret."

Harry and Alicia were released from the hospital wing and made their way down to the end-of-year feast. They'd been held up by Madam Pomfrey's fussing about, insisting on giving them one last checkup, so the Great Hall was already full.

"Do we tell Hermione and Ron?" Harry wondered, Alicia thought.

"We should, but maybe not tonight. We also shouldn't say anything in a letter either. Has to be in person." she nodded

"When's that?" Harry asked. Alicia sighed

"I don't know. But we will tell them."

The two entered the Great Hall to find it was decked out in the Slytherin colours of green and silver to celebrate Slytherin's winning the House Cup for the seventh year in a row. A huge banner showing the Slytherin serpent covered the wall behind the High Table.

Alicia frowned at the sight.

When the two walked in, there was a sudden hush, and then everybody started talking loudly at once. Alicia ignored it and walked down the table towards Ron and Hermione. The Weasley twins, Percy, Neville and a few others sitting with them. Harry followed her as the two slipped into a seat between Ron and Hermione at the Gryffindor table and tried to ignore the fact that people were standing up to look at them.

Fortunately, Dumbledore arrived moments later and the babble died away.

"Another year gone!" Dumbledore said cheerfully. "And I must trouble you with an old man's wheezing waffle before we sink our teeth into our delicious feast. What a year it has been! Hopefully your heads are all a little fuller than they were… you have the whole summer ahead to get them nice and empty before next year starts…

"Now, as I understand it, the House Cup here needs awarding, and the points stand thus: In fourth place, Gryffindor, with three hundred and twelve points; in third, Hufflepuff, with three hundred and fifty-two; Ravenclaw has four hundred and twenty-six and Slytherin, four hundred and seventy-two."

A storm of cheering and stamping broke out from the Slytherin table. Harry could see Draco Malfoy banging his goblet on the table. It was a sickening sight.

"Yes, yes, well done, Slytherin," said Dumbledore. "However, recent events must be taken into account."

The room went very still. The Slytherins' smiles faded a little.

"Ahem," said Dumbledore. "I have a few last-minute points to dish out. Let me see. Yes…

"First — to Mr. Ronald Weasley…"

Ron went purple in the face; he looked like a radish with a bad sunburn.

"… for the best-played game of chess Hogwarts has seen in many years, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

Gryffindor cheers nearly raised the bewitched ceiling; the stars overhead seemed to quiver. Percy could be heard telling the other prefects, "My brother, you know! My youngest brother! Got past McGonagall's giant chess set!"

At last there was silence again.

"Second — to Miss Hermione Granger… for the use of cool logic in the face of fire, I award Gryffindor House fifty points."

Hermione buried her face in her arms; Harry strongly suspected she had burst into tears. Gryffindors up and down the table were beside themselves — they were a hundred points up.

"Third — to Miss Alicia Evan's… for keeping a brave face, supporting all those around her, no matter the odds and always taking the first step in encouraging others. I award Gryffindor sixty points."

The din was deafening. Those who could add up while yelling themselves hoarse knew that Gryffindor now had four hundred and seventy-two points — exactly the same as Slytherin. They had tied for the House Cup — if only Dumbledore had given Alicia just one more point.

"Fourth, to Mr. Harry Potter…" said Dumbledore. The room went deadly quiet. "… for pure nerve and outstanding courage, I award Gryffindor House sixty points."

The Gryffindors were out of their seats in applause that they had won the house cup, however Dumbledore had not finished. He raised his hand. The room gradually fell silent.

"There are all kinds of courage," said Dumbledore, smiling. "It takes a great deal of bravery to stand up to our enemies, but just as much to stand up to our friends. I therefore award ten points to Mr. Neville Longbottom."

Someone standing outside the Great Hall might well have thought some sort of explosion had taken place, so loud was the noise that erupted from the Gryffindor table. Harry, Alicia Ron, and Hermione stood up to yell and cheer as Neville, white with shock, disappeared under a pile of people hugging him. He had never won so much as a point for Gryffindor before. Harry, still cheering, nudged Ron in the ribs and pointed at Malfoy, who couldn't have looked more stunned and horrified if he'd just had the Body-Bind Curse put on him.

"Which means," Dumbledore called over the storm of applause, for even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff were celebrating the downfall of Slytherin, "we need a little change of decoration."

He clapped his hands. In an instant, the green hangings became scarlet and the silver became gold; the huge Slytherin serpent vanished and a towering Gryffindor lion took its place. Snape was shaking Professor McGonagall's hand, with a horrible, forced smile. He caught Harry's eye and Harry knew at once that Snape's feelings toward him hadn't changed one jot. This didn't worry Harry.

Despite it being the last night at Hogwarts, it was the best evening of Alicia's life, better than Harry winning at Quidditch, or Christmas, or knocking out mountain trolls… they would never, ever forget tonight.

* * *

With all the commotion Alicia had almost forgotten that the exam results were still to come, but come they did. To their great surprise, both Harry and Ron passed with good marks; Hermione, of course, had the best grades of the first years. Well, until Alicia showed them her result and managed to even out smart Hermione. Naturally this brought a spark out between the two and the two boys knew the competition was on for next year. Despite that both girls were still smiling.

Even Neville scraped through, his good Herbology mark making up for his abysmal Potions one. They had hoped that Goyle, who was almost as stupid as he was mean, might be thrown out, but he had passed, too. It was a shame, but as Ron said, you couldn't have everything in life.

And suddenly, their wardrobes were empty, their trunks were packed, Neville's toad was found lurking in a corner of the toilets; notes were handed out to all students, warning them not to use magic over the holidays,

"I always hope they'll forget to give us these," said Fred Weasley sadly

"Just think, four years and you'll be able to use it outside Hogwarts." Alicia grinned

Hagrid was there to take them down to the fleet of boats that sailed across the lake; they were boarding the Hogwarts Express; talking and laughing as the countryside became greener and tidier; eating Bertie Bott's Every Flavour Beans as they sped past Muggle towns; pulling off their wizard robes and putting on jackets and coats; pulling into platform nine and three-quarters at King's Cross station.

It took quite a while for them all to get off the platform. A wizened old guard was up by the ticket barrier, letting them go through the gate in twos and threes so they didn't attract attention by all bursting out of a solid wall at once and alarming the Muggles.

"You must come and stay this summer," said Ron, "All of you — I'll send you an owl."

"Thanks," said Harry, "I'll need something to look forward to."

"Don't forget Harry, you've still got me." Alicia nudged him "I mean you can always hide in the orphanage, the Dursley's wont mind."

"Ms Bane might." Harry grinned, to which Alicia scoffed.

People jostled them as they moved forward toward the gateway back to the Muggle world. Some of them called:

"Bye, Harry!"

"See you, Potter!" Even Alicia received a few shouts to which she replied to all.

"Still famous," said Ron, grinning at him.

"Not where I'm going, I promise you," said Harry.

He, Ron, Alicia and Hermione passed through the gateway together.

"There he is, Mom, there he is, look!"

It was Ginny Weasley, Ron's younger sister, but she wasn't pointing at Ron.

"Harry Potter!" she squealed. "Look, Mom! I can see —"

"Be quiet, Ginny, and it's rude to point." Alicia was laughing as they reached them.

"Hi Ginny," she greeted "I'm Alicia."

"Nice to meet you." Ginny grinned, but her gaze kept going back to Harry.

Mrs. Weasley smiled down at them.

"Busy year?" she said.

"Very," said Harry. "Thanks for the fudge and the sweater, Mrs. Weasley."

"Oh, it was nothing, dear."

"They were amazing, thank you so much." Alicia grinned "I'm still in the process of sending you something in return."

"Oh nonsense dear." Mrs Weasley waved her hand

"Well I will for next christmas at least." she decided

"Ready, are you?"

It was Uncle Vernon, still purple-faced, still moustached, still looking furious at the nerve of Harry, carrying an owl in a cage in a station full of ordinary people. Behind him stood Aunt Petunia and Dudley, looking terrified at the very sight of Harry. Alicia smirked

"You must be Harry's family!" said Mrs. Weasley.

"In a manner of speaking," said Uncle Vernon. "Hurry up, boy, we haven't got all day." He walked away.

Harry hung back for a last word with Ron and Hermione.

"See you over the summer, then."

"Hope you have — er — a good holiday," said Hermione, looking uncertainly after Uncle Vernon, shocked that anyone could be so unpleasant.

"Oh," he looked at Alicia who smirked, knowing what he was thinking "We will," said Harry, and they were surprised at the grin that was spreading over his face. " _They_ don't know we're not allowed to use magic at home. I'm going to have a lot of fun with Dudley this summer…"

"Oh god we're gonna frighten him out of that thick skin of his." Alicia laughed as she spotted Ms Bane, who immediately came trotting towards them.

"A good year was it?" she asked smiling

"Oh yes." Alicia nodded "Ms Bane, this is Hermione and Ron." she pointed "This is my caretaker."

"She was good yes?" Ms Bane asked the two.

"Oh yes," Hermione smiled

"A natural genius." Ron nodded

"Good good." Ms Bane said happily as she patted Alicia's shoulder.

"By the way Ms Bane, I have something important I kind of need to tell you." Alicia said with a guilty expression, but a smile none the less.

Ron, Harry and Hermione looked at her both worried and amused.

"And it involves me having my own room…"

* * *

 **I hoped you all liked it, let me know if you have any ideas or queries for the coming books, they're always welcome. I love reviews so feel free to post them too.**

 **Like I said I'll post the next one in the next week or so, but I wont post the third until I've finished the fourth… Unless it takes me a really long time and people are really impatient for it :)**

 **Thanks for Reading.**


	17. Author's Note

**Hey all,**

 **Thanks for reading my story.**

 **The second in the series, Chamber of Secrets, is now up under the name _An Unbreakable Bond Strengthens._**

 **Hope you like it**

 **xx**


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